Horticulture Connected Autumn/Winter Volume 8 Issue 3

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Autumn/Winter 2021

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

IRELANDS TRADE MAGAZINE

A NEW LEAF

BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS BORD BIA BLOOM’S GARY GRAHAM

THE CALL OF THE WILD

FÉIDHLIM HARTY ON THE JOYS OF REWILDING A GARDEN

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

EUGENIA FEZZA OF TEAGASC DISCUSSES METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE MONITORING AND CONTROL OF BLACK VINE WEEVIL IN CROPS

MAYNOOTH GREEN CAMPUS: A SCHOOL FOR ECO-CITIZENSHIP DR. JOE LARRAGY DETAILS THE HARD WORK OF STAFF AND STUDENTS IN CREATING A GREEN CAMPUS

TIME FOR COMBAT

JOHN MURPHY ISSUES A CALL TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE WITH SENSIBLE BUT URGENT PLANTING INITIATIVES €6.95

Biodiversity

Volume 8 Issue 3

Conservation

Sustainability

Environment

XXXXXXXXX / 00

05 / INTERVIEW

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

& A DA P T I N G

01 / EDITORIAL

RECOVERING

A

TO CLIMATE CHANGE

s we put the finishing touches to the last Horticulture Connected of 2021, society has finally begun the tentative process of opening up. What a relief it is to get back to something approaching normality, what a pleasure it is to begin making plans to get together and to see familiar faces once more. It has been encouraging to see the press releases flooding in, announcing more and more trade events here in Ireland and abroad, all set to return to an in-person format for 2022. Perhaps the biggest announcement to date is that Bord Bia Bloom is set to return to its home at the Phoenix Park next June. As ever HC will continue to visit these important events and bring you the latest innovations and reports

individuals and businesses to play our part in bringing products and services to the consumer gardening market that allows them to make choices that are not detrimental to our planet.

In this edition, climate change is also foremost in the minds of HC contributors.

Fédihlim Harty observes how in the natural process of succession in a wild garden, as the garden shifts and changes over time, systems develop and evolve that create a self-supporting habitat that serves to benefit nature. John Murphy issues an impassioned plea for a more considered approach to carbon storage during the planning and management of our urban and rural trees and hedgerows.

He also calls for a more comprehensive commitment to the planting of new and

regarding edible and amenity horticulture from Europe and the World.

HC has been very excited to begin visiting trade shows once more. Our first international in-person events were Glee Birmingham, followed by Saltex and the Landscape Show. We were also delighted to attend our first face-to-face event in Ireland for over 20 months, the Teagasc Nursery Stock Seminar. It was great to be back out on the Ashtown Campus and to sit in on some insightful presentations.

Thoughts of climate change and the environment are foremost in our minds as COP26 continues to dominate the news headlines as we assemble this edition of HC. In his speech to the world media, Taoiseach Micheál Martin declared that, “Climate change is the defining challenge of our time,” and conceded that “farming will have to change, energy will have to change, and transport will have to change.” Since then, the government has published its Climate Action Plan.

The goals set therein are sure to be somewhat divisive at an industry level but are undeniably necessary for the fight against climate change. Some of these commitments include: cutting global methane emissions by 30%, sure to affect the agricultural sector as the main contributor; a commitment to halt deforestation by 2030; and a range of emissions reductions for multiple sectors that will be followed by a Carbon budget in the new year. For sure it will present risks and opportunities to our sector, but it is now a moral obligation for us as

higher-rated trees as a requirement of landscape development.

Similarly, Noeleen Smyth argues that our peatlands are essential in the fight against climate change. Peatlands cover just 3% of the earth’s surface but have the potential to store onethird of the world’s carbon. Presently, about 15% of the world’s peatlands have been drained. This has released huge amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, from the carbon stored within peat soils. Gary Graham is interviewed by Barry Lupton about his decision to step away from a successful career at Bord Bia to pursue other life and career adventures. In the interview, Gary echoes the sentiment of RHS Vice President Baroness Floella Benjamin, that “ornamental horticulture” should more accurately be described as “environmental horticulture.” And, in the first of a series of articles from Floraculture International, in collaboration with The International Association of Horticultural Producers, we hear from the AIPH International Conference, ‘The Path to Sustainability in Ornamental Horticulture’, and explore what climate change means for the future of horticulture.

As always, we are grateful to this edition’s contributors for sharing their stories and experiences. By doing so they expand the knowledge and horizons of the horticulture community. We always welcome new members and voices so please get in touch at editor@horticulture.ie. ✽

HC TEAM HorticultureConnected.ie for daily news updates

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Autumn/Winter 2021

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

IRELANDS TRADE MAGAZINE

A NEW LEAF

BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS BORD BIA BLOOM’S GARY GRAHAM

THE CALL OF THE WILD

FÉIDHLIM HARTY ON THE JOYS OF REWILDING A GARDEN

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

EUGENIA FEZZA OF TEAGASC DISCUSSES METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE MONITORING AND CONTROL OF BLACK VINE WEEVIL IN CROPS

MAYNOOTH GREEN CAMPUS: A SCHOOL FOR ECO-CITIZENSHIP DR. JOE LARRAGY DETAILS THE HARD WORK OF STAFF AND STUDENTS IN CREATING A GREEN CAMPUS

TIME FOR COMBAT

JOHN MURPHY ISSUES A CALL TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE WITH SENSIBLE BUT URGENT PLANTING INITIATIVES €6.95

Biodiversity

Conservation

Sustainability

Fumbally Exchange Argus House, Blackpitts, Dublin 8, D08 Y273, Ireland

Environment

Volume 8 Issue 3

Editoral Team editor@horticulture.ie +353 (0)89 255 7526 Peter McNally Joseph Blair Barry Lupton Creative Director Tanya Gilsenan - tanya@horticulture.ie Recruitment & Horticulture.jobs Sam Barrett - +353 (0)89 476 7424 sam@recruited.ie Advertising & Sponsorship Paul Moran - +353 (0)89 238 5278 paul@horticulture.ie Accounts & Subscriptions Geraldine O'Neill - +353 (0)89 477 0492 geraldine@horticulture.ie HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

AUTUMN/WINTER 2019

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Summer 2019

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2019

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

MAKING THE PHOENIX BLOOM BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS GARY GRAHAM

WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

TERRY O’REGAN REACHES RETIREMENT AND ASKS THAT VITAL QUESTION?

THE THERAPEUTIC USE OF HORTICULTURE IN IRELAND RACHEL FREEMAN REVIEWS THE INAUGURAL SYMPOSIUM ON SOCIAL AND THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE

CHANGING THE RETAIL CLIMATE LIAM KELLY EXPLORES A GREENER SHOP FLOOR

WE’RE WINNING THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM COLM KENNY THROWS A SPOTLIGHT ON PROCUREMENT ISSUES

MEADOW MYTHBUSTER

SANDRO CAFOLLA TACKLES MYTHS AROUND MEADOW CREATION AND MAINTENANCE

AVOIDING THE PITFALLS

COLM KENNY DIGS DEEP ON URBAN TREES

GARDENING ON A THE EDGE

PATRICIA TYRELL REVIEWS THE RECENT GLDA SEMINAR

MITTELSTAND LESSONS FROM GERMANY

DÓNALL FLANAGAN SHARES INSIGHTS FROM GERMAN NURSERIES STUDY TOUR

ALCI AWARDS 2019

IRELAND'S LEADING CONTRACTORS ANNOUNCED

Volume 6 Issue 3

Volume 6 Issue 2

Volume 6 Issue 1

Cover Photo: Feidhlim Harty Printers: Azure Communications Print Run: 4,000 copies Distribution: Readership of 12,000 across Ireland to businesses and professionals in the following sectors: Landscape / Garden Retail /Florists / Nurseries / Greenkeepers /Sports Surfaces / Local Authorities & Parks Departments / Machinery / Education / Edible Horticulture & more...

Publishers: Horticulture Connected Ltd www.HorticultureConnected.ie

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

H C

News, Analysis and Trends In Landscape, Garden Retail & Edible Horticulture

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

N In

1

CONTENTS

CONTENTS NEWS 03

Horticulture News

EDUCATION

03 UPDATE ON TEAGASC COLLEGE OF AMENITY HORTICULTURE John Mulhern looks ahead to another exciting academic year

BORD BIA

06 All the latest news from Bord Bia

TEAGASC

08 All the latest news from Teagasc

INTERVIEW

10 A NEW LEAF Gary Graham talks with Barry Lupton about a career dedicated to the promotion of horticulture

LANDSCAPE

14 THE CALL OF THE WILD Féidhlim Harty tracks the principle of succession as his own rewilded garden shifts and changes through the seasons

RETAIL

18 GLEE 2021 - HOW WAS IT FOR YOU? Andy Campbell makes a welcome return to the UK’s leading garden and outdoor living trade show, GLEE Birmingham

26 SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS

P39

Paul Moran provides a guide to making the most out of a social media presence for a your business

NURSERY EVENT

28 NANGLE & NIESEN All the highlights from the Nangle and Niesen Tree Nursery Open Day

JOBS

30 The Latest Horticulture jobs from

DESIGN

35 GREEN CITIES AWARD Michal Slawski of Bord Bia on the search for ambitious, inspiring and innovative Irish ‘green’ building

Horticulture.jobs

EDIBLES

31 RECLAIMING THE HUMBLE SPUD Bord Bia’s Lorcan Bourke on the initiative to increase the volume of home-grown potatoes sold in Irish chip shops

32 MUSHROOM HARVESTING AUTOMATION Donal Gernon, specialist mushroom advisor with Teagasc, explores how automated technologies are changing mushroom production

projects to take part in The Green Cities Award 2021

RESEARCH

36 CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Eugenia Fezza, Teagasc Walsh Scholar, discusses methods for improving the monitoring and control of black vine weevil in crops

39 ‘LYCIA’ WINS THE RACE IN RECENT STRAWBERRY VARIETY TRIAL Dr. Eamonn Kehoe, soft fruit specialist advisor with Teagasc, gives an update on the results from the recent nationwide strawberry variety trial

P26

OPINION

40 TIME FOR COMBAT John Murphy doesn’t mince his words in a call to combat climate change with several sensible but urgent planting initiatives

INSIGHT

20 WHEN RAIN STOPS MORE THAN PLAY!

Terry O’Regan on strategies to deal with time lost due to weather disruptions

22 MAYNOOTH GREEN CAMPUS: A SCHOOL FOR ECO-CITIZENSHIP Dr. Joe Larragy, Founder Chairperson of Maynooth Green Campus, details the hard work of staff and students that led to their many successful initiatives

2

42 THE HOLE IN THE BOG Noeleen Smyth addresses the urgent need to take action on Ireland’s lost bog-lands

P14

WORLD-VIEW

46 SUSTAINABILITY PIONEERS AIPH looks at the issues that affect the horticulture sector worldwide

EVENTS

44 The Latest Hortiulture Events

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

02 / NEWS

HORTICULTURE NEWS A HEADSTART ON THE HOLIDAY SEASON Christmasworld, is regarded as the leading international trade fair dedicated to the decoration and festive articles sector. For businesses that want to get ahead of the annual holiday rush, it's the perfect B2B trade fair for a great start to the new business season.

Held in Frankfurt, Germany on January 28-February 1, Christmasworld brings together manufacturers and retailers, as well as major commercial buyers from all over the world. From atmospheric Christmas decorations and seasonal and indoor/ outdoor decorations, to impressive shop-window and largescale decorations for city centres, shopping malls, hotels, garden centres and florists, all the coming trends and new products are on show annually. Sustainability has become an increasingly important topic with regard to festive decorations. With the introduction of the Special Interest Sustainability award, Christmasworld 2022 will focus even more specifically on sustainability-oriented exhibitors and their products.

For your business, meeting and personal contact with industry participants is indispensable. But digital opportunities are also part of the "new normal". That is why Christmasworld will combine the analogue with the digital space from 2022 and open up new possibilities with Christmasworld digital addition. Visit christmasworld. messefrankfurt.com for more information. ✽

COLM WARREN POLYHOUSES: EXPAND YOUR RETAIL SPACES

As competition in retail increases, the need to merchandise effectively and enhance your customer’s experience while in-store is key. Colm Warren Polyhouses Ltd. can help to expand your retail space by converting open spaces into covered usable space as cost effectively as possible. CWP canopies improve customer experience by providing covered dining areas and protection for all types of stock that would otherwise have to be discounted due to weather damage. Branded entrance canopies can guide customers around your business and also offer additional retailing opportunities at the entrance to your shop. Atrium style canopies can weather-proof open areas between buildings, while still allowing in natural daylight.

CWP Canopy structures are CE mark, and have EN1090-1-2009+A1:2011 accreditation. Now is the time to start planning for next spring! Contact CWP on 046-9546007 to discuss any ideas you might have. ✽

WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND There's sure to be an added air of merry celebration this yuletide at the everfestive Killarney Christmas Tree Farm. This autumn saw some bouncing new additions to the herd of deer that live among their expansive collection of conifers. These season-appropriate new members of staff are sure to add another popular reason to visit their Winter Wonderland this holiday season.

Killarney Christmas Tree Farm is the best known and leading supplier of Christmas trees, both in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Owner Nick Foley and his family started the business 25 years ago, as a move to a nearby town had taken him too far away to maintain the land as a working farm.

And, 9 years after those original seeds were planted in the new venture, the first trees were ready to be harvested. Their contract with Dublin City Council, among others, means that their trees can be seen on Grafton Street, O’Connell Street and at the Mansion House. They also supply Christmas trees to garden centres, hotels and households throughout Munster. Visit killarneychristmastrees.com for more information. ✽

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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NEWS / 02 BORD BIA BLOOM RETURNS TO PHOENIX PARK IN 2022 Bord Bia has announced that Bord Bia Bloom, Ireland’s largest gardening and lifestyle festival, will take place in the Phoenix Park from June 2-6, 2022. Now in its sixteenth year, the event attracted over 115,000 visitors from across Ireland in 2019. Commenting on the return to a physical event following two successful #BloomAtHome virtual events, Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy said, “An event of this scale requires many months of preparation and the team is looking forward to working with the hundreds of growers, designers, exhibitors and sponsors who make Bloom an unmissable event on the Irish summer calendar. The health and safety of all visitors and staff on site remains our top priority and Bord Bia will be monitoring ongoing public health advice closely. We are very much looking forward to welcoming people back to the Phoenix Park in 2022.” With planning for Bord Bia Bloom 2022 now underway, further announcements about the festival will take place over the coming months. Sign up for the Bloom Ezine at bordbiabloom.com to stay up to date. ✽

HC NEWS

NEW PARTNERSHIP IN SOIL OXYGENATION Whites Agri has announced a partnership with Makro Organics as the Irish distributor of OxyTurf. This product provides the soil with slow-release oxygen and activated aerobic microbes. Based on a patented formula of extracts from a blend of naturally occurring plants, OxyTurf stimulates microbial digestive activity, resulting in the reduction of compacted organic build-up and an improvement in oxygen availability.

It also enables nutrients, additives and fertilisers to penetrate the soil profile homogeneously, which are taken up by the root system more efficiently. This provides stronger rooting, providing a better playing surface. Solid results have shown: ● I mprovement in soil oxygenation and percolation ● Reduction in the black layer, thatch and compaction ● Improved nutrient uptake and sward vigour ● Increased root volume (mass and length) ● Improved rhizosphere biological activity and interbacterial communication ● Improves induced systemic resistance (ISR) and systemic acquired resistance (SAR) Visit makroorganics.eu/our-products and whitesagri.ie for more information. ✽

ADVANCES IN DRIP IRRIGATION With the climate changing and water-shortages becoming more commonplace, how we water our crops must change to conserve water. A revolutionary system is currently being tested on a wide variety of crops in Australia and America.

A gravity drip irrigation system, that does not require pumps, is currently using 70% less water and crop and soil quality have increased.

Using battery powered sensors, the Long Range WideArea Network and a phone app, the system monitors weather and soil conditions and irrigates accordingly.

Liquid fertiliser can be added to the system and delivered right to the crop roots. The amount of fertiliser used has also dropped considerably. Irritec is in talks with a large foliage company, who irrigate a small section of their farm with drip irrigation and due to increased yields, want to expand the system. We are planning to use the LoRaWan network to operate sensors and solar powered valves.

By the new year, we hope to have network coverage expanded from Irritec and covering the foliage farm. Visit irritec.ie for more information. ✽

FROM THIS...

TO THIS...

HORTICULTURE STUDIES AT UCD University College Dublin’s science-based Horticulture degree is taught by a team of researchers active in the areas of soil science, climate, crop production, national and international plant trade, invasive species management, biodiversity and conservation. UCD’s focus is on educating students for a wide range of careers, by becoming a competent, competitive and confident leader who will excel nationally and internationally as a professional horticulturist or horticultural scientist, in diverse career roles.

If you are interested in human health, plant health, biology, environment or business opportunities, this course provides in-depth knowledge on sustainable production of field and protected crops, nursery stock, amenity horticulture, landscape design, plant identification and use, postharvest, sportsturf and pest and disease control. A career in horticulture offers you vast possibilities and opportunities that will bring you both professional and personal satisfaction, giving you an exciting and fulfilling life.

For more information, visit myucd.ie/courses/agriculture-food-nutrition/horticulture ✽

4

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

03 / EDUCATION

PHOTO OF OUR DEGREE YEAR 2 STUDENTS ON A RECENT TRIP TO THE PEATLANDS AS PART OF THEIR BIODIVERSITY STUDIES IN THE TYRELLSPASS AREA WITH THEIR TUTOR DR. CAROL MELODY THE WEEK BEFORE MIDTERM.

UPDATE ON TEAGASC COLLEGE OF AMENITY

HORTICULTURE

College Principal John Mulhern looks ahead to another exciting academic year and fascinating Science Week

T

his year has seen an enthusiastic start to our courses, beginning in September, and it’s hard to believe that we’re already at mid-term. These last 18 months have certainly been a very unique period for education, and there is no doubt that we all have learned new skills and new ways of adapting through dealing with the pandemic. A lot of our students are pursuing horticulture in our college as it provides rewards that are not found in other workplaces. Many of them are looking for a change in career, and wish now to pursue what they have always wanted through horticulture. It’s a great time to begin down the path of horticulture, as the college is now endeavouring to offer a wider choice to students than it did in the past.

NEW OPTIONS FOR THE COMING SEMESTER The Certificate in Horticulture Level 5 students are availing of the normal suite of modules including Plant Identification, Plant Propagation, Landscape Construction and Maintenance, and Fruit and Vegetable Production. This year we are offering Organic Crop Production in addition to this group, and the uptake is very strong. The current Programme for Government target is to align the utilisable agricultural area under organic production in Ireland with the EU average of 7.5%. Currently less than 2% of our land is farmed organically… maybe the new CAP farm proposals offering farmers a 500% addition in payments will change this.

The advanced certificate in Horticulture will be kicking-off this November, after we return from midterm, and this course is offered in the format of 16 weeks of coursework and 16 weeks of work placement. We will have a good mix of part-time and full time learners on this programme, numbering close to forty in total. The part-time learners are already working in industry and they are availing of various modules in an effort to build up their knowledge in specific areas.

Our degree students have also been on-site since September.

The degree students have access to both the Botanic gardens and the Ashtown sites for their studies. Students can also now avail of component modules in the degree course. The following WIT (Waterford Institute of Technology) part-time courses/modules are now available at the Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture in The National Botanic Gardens.

They start in September each year and run for 8 hours per week, for 12 weeks. We welcome interest from people who may already be involved in the industry, and who are looking to upskill or pursue other avenues, to avail of these courses.

Courses currently being offered include: ●L 7 Certificate in Nursery Stock Production (10 credits) ●L 7 Certificate in Garden Maintenance and Plant Selection

(10 credits) ●P lant Protection Module [for registration with DAFM as

professional user of pesticides status] (5 credits) ●L 7 Certificate in Sportsturf Science (10 credits) ●L 7 Certificate in Landscape Design (10 credits)

More information on this suite of courses, offered in conjunction with WIT, can be found on their website at wit.ie.

During the midterm we delivered a short two day course with SAP Landscapes staff on some areas including Plant Identification, and the use of terminology standards in Landscape Maintenance. Participants were involved in practical sessions regarding plant combinations/uses, maintenance issues and soil and planting.

SCIENCE WEEK Science Week 2021 took place from November 7-14. Teagasc will be participating with a full schedule of activities during the week as part of ‘The Festival of Farming and Food’. We in the Botanics have collaborated with our Teagasc Horticultural development department and the OPW to look at the ‘Wonders of Horticulture’ in both the Botanics and Teagasc Ashtown. This will really shine a light on current work that is ongoing in the herbarium in the National Botanic Gardens and the food research ongoing in Teagasc Ashtow. Science Week is a must for all that would be interested in a career in Science and Horticulture.

MORE FOR 2022 During the coming months we will be evaluating what course options will be on our programme for 2022. We expect that the current demand for part-time courses will be sustained as the work life balance of people working in Horticulture lends itself to this format. ✽

JOHN MULHERN has worked with Teagasc for more than 17 years, primarily in an educational capacity. He is the current principal of the College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Gardens, Dublin.

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

5

BORD BIA / 04 CELEBRATING THE UN INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES!

LET’S GROW Over the course of the pandemic, and especially during lockdown, many new consumers have developed an interest in gardening. However, recent research shows that many of these consumers find it hard to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to begin their journey.

Simple gardening advice is always in demand and insights from the GroMór website show that the AUTHOR AND BROADCASTER FIANN monthly to-do list has been their most valued resource, Ó NUALLÁIN AT THE especially for new gardeners. Some other topics of BOTANIC GARDENS. interest on the site included: how to get kids involved in gardening, gardening for the environment/biodiversity/bees, and the physical and mental benefits of gardening.

Additionally, many younger consumers came into the category in the previous two years through an interest in growing their own fruit and vegetables. As many within this cohort are renting, they respond positively to container gardening and simple tips on growing fruit and veg on a balcony or outdoor space.

The GroMór programme is now being streamlined into the Let’s Grow campaign, with key content from the initiative being migrated to BordBia.ie. Features on the BordBia.ie gardening hub include monthly gardening advice and to-do lists, a map showcasing garden centres and nurseries nationwide, and plant guides highlighting Irish grown ornamental plants from Irish Nurseries, in addition to inspirational and educational content. Activity is pitched at new or beginner gardeners who are not confident about gardening or growing their own food.

In preparation for the autumn burst of activity, video footage of Fiann Ó Nualláin was captured at the Botanic gardens, creating a range of seasonal containers, including a window box herb garden. The focus was on Irish grown plants, and how seasonal bedding can really lift a container.

In addition to this, several of the advice guides were animated to make them suitable for Facebook and Instagram. There was an intensive digital promotional burst for the material in the middle of October, on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Full results are still awaited, but it is estimated that the ads for the videos will have been displayed 800,000 times, with 80,000 video views.

Plans are in place to launch the Let’s Grow campaign in March of 2022 with a range of spring gardening tips. The campaign will engage with consumers through videos, animations, infographics and inspiring images. It will feature well known and up and coming gardeners, across both plants and fruit and vegetables, with regular, engaging content. ✽

EU FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CAMPAIGN 2022-24 The Horticulture department has been granted funds by the EU for a multi-country Fruit & Veg millennial campaign and promotional programme. The €5.4m Fruit & Veg MultiPromotion, in partnership with Interfel and AIB (banana promotions) – both from France and Brussels based European Fresh Produce Association, Freshfel – will deliver a €1.5m investment in promotional funds for the Irish Fruit & Veg sector over the next three years. ✽

6

To mark the UN International Year of Fruit and Vegetables 2021, Bord Bia are encouraging people to add one more fresh fruit or vegetable to any meal. This coincides with Bord Bia’s annual ‘Best in Season’ campaign, which highlights the convenience, taste, texture, vibrancy and colour of seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables. In an effort to provide simple tips on how to eat more fresh produce, they have partnered with dietitian Orla Walsh.

“If everyone in Ireland were to ‘add one more’ locally grown fruit or vegetable into their daily diet, they would become healthier,” says Orla.

“However, another motivation to eat more in season, local produce is that it is often the more sustainable choice, and taking on the ‘add one more’ challenge can also help to avoid food waste. Leftover vegetables in your fridge or from dinner are delicious in your morning omelette and ideal for use in pasta sauces and stir fries.”

Lorcan Bourke, Sector Manager for Fresh Produce and Potatoes, Bord Bia said, “For the International Year of Fruit and Vegetables, it’s very heartening to see that the latest market data shows Irish consumers are continuing to purchase more fresh produce, with the record sales achieved during the pandemic being sustained into 2021.”

New market data in July, showed an increase in the purchase of fresh produce in Ireland, with the total retail market valued at €1.78bn. Consumers increased their average annual spend on fresh vegetables by 7.5% from the previous year. The total retail market for fresh vegetables, which makes up 37% of all fresh produce sales, is now valued at approximately €659.7m annually, an increase of 8.6% over 2020. ✽

EU POTATO CAMPAIGN – ‘POTATOES PREPARED TO BE SURPRISED’ Bord Bia’s three-year EU funded millennial campaign, ‘Potatoes Prepared to be Surprised’, was awarded a bronze Effie award in the category of Public Service, Government & Utilities. ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

04 / BORD BIA ezine MINISTER MCCONALOGUE AND OLYMPIC CHAMPION KELLIE HARRINGTON LAUNCH BACK TO SCHOOL HEALTHY EATING CAMPAIGNS Launching the campaign at Kellie’s former primary school, St Vincent’s Girls National School in Dublin, Minister McConalogue said “I am delighted to launch the Back to School Campaigns for the School Milk Scheme and the Food Dudes Programme, both of which play a key role in meeting school children’s dietary requirements in a school setting, and also encourage children to make healthier eating choices outside of school.”

Congratulating Kellie on her Olympic Gold Medal win the Minister said MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FOOD & THE MARINE CHARLIE MCCONALOGUE; BORD BIA’S “Kellie is a positive and inspirational role model for school children. As a MIKE NEARY; PUPILS FROM ST VINCENT’S GIRLS School Milk and Food Dudes ambassador, she has empowered many school NATIONAL SCHOOL, DUBLIN; CEO OF NATIONAL DAIRY COUNCIL, ZOE KAVANAGH; OLYMPIC GOLD children to make healthier eating choices by drinking milk and eating more MEDALLIST, KELLIE HARRINGTON. fruit and vegetables”.

The Food Dudes Programme is an award-winning, curriculum-linked and evidence based healthy eating programme developed to encourage children to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Now entering its 17th school year, over 1.2 million school children have participated in the programme to date.

Dr Elizabeth Finnegan, Healthy Eating Executive with Bord Bia says “The most recent National Children’s Food Survey highlights that school children are still consuming well below the recommended 5 to 7 servings of fruit and vegetables per day (3 servings per day).” This research corresponds well with the recent National Teen’s Survey which showed teens aged 13-18 years-old are consuming less than 3 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Indeed, a recent Consumer Insights Fresh Produce Study by the Bord Bia Thinking House also revealed that Irish people aged 18-34 are only eating on average 3.9 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Thus the need for continuous promotion of healthy eating and the benefits of increased fruit and vegetable consumption amongst the population is warranted.

Dr Finnegan continues “Early intervention is key to behaviour change. The Food Dudes Programme has been shown to bring about significant change and improvements in school children’s eating habits. Our most recent evaluation conducted by researchers from the National Nutrition Surveillance Centre, UCD, found that the programme effectively increases provision and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables at home and in school, both in the short and long term.” For more information visit fooddudes.ie ✽

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: IBBA AND BORD BIA CREATE SCHOOL LUNCHES THAT KIDS WILL ENJOY Healthy Heroes, the popular lunchtime nutrition programme, is underway in hundreds of primary schools around the country as the Irish Bread Bakers Association and Bord Bia join forces again to help children improve their eating habits and fitness levels. Studies show that just one in ten Irish children meet the national physical activity guidelines, while at least one in five nationally are still overweight or obese.

Ailbhe Byrne, FDI Public Affairs Executive from IBBA, says “Healthy Heroes is now in its eighth year and is still hugely popular among teachers and students. School lunchtime is an important opportunity to develop positive attitudes towards food choices and nutrition, nurturing life-long eating habits. Furthermore, children can be a very important influence over their peers' eating and exercise habits.”

“Primary School is a time when many changes take place, which is why nutrition is so important”, says Dr Elizabeth Finnegan, Healthy Eating Executive at Bord Bia. “A lot of growth happens in these years and children need the right balance of nutrients to help them reach their full potential. It is great to see programmes like Healthy Heroes encouraging this type of in-school and at home activity.” For more information on the programme visit Irishbread.ie. ✽

NATIONAL POTATO DAY 2021 Friday 1st October marked Bord Bia’s National Potato Day, an annual celebration of the potato and its contribution to the Irish diet and culture. The chosen theme for this year’s campaign was “It All Starts With Potatoes”, highlighting the versatility of Ireland’s favourite vegetable and its suitability for all diets and age-groups. The campaign also championed the popular indoor and outdoor activities that helped us all get through lockdown, with the aim to highlight the potato as a nutritious food to enjoy before or after any activity.

As part of the campaign, Bord Bia worked with four trusted ambassadors representing diverse lifestyles and audiences. These included an Irish Potato Grower, renowned chef Kwanghi Chan, Mum/Family influencer Sarah Battle, and Outdoor Activity Enthusiast Rachel Purcell. Each showcased their love for potatoes, and how “It All Starts With Potatoes” in their lives. ✽

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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TEAGASC / 05 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO IMPROVE CARROT FLY DETECTION

CHERRY LAUREL - PRUNUS LAUROCERASUS – PEST & DISEASE GROWER GUIDE A grower guide outlining the main pest and disease issues on Prunus laurocerasus is now available from Teagasc Horticultural Development Department. It was put together

by Brian McGuinness, Andy Whelton and Helen Grogan in the Teagasc Horticultural Development Department, in conjunction with researchers at UCD. The group have been working together on a DAFM funded research project ‘New Leaves’, the aim of which is to address some of the technical challenges facing the relatively new cut foliage industry, in terms of propagation of key species such as Eucalyptus and other shrubby types such as Pittosporum and Viburnum. A key task of the work focused on the main pest and disease issues of Cherry laurel, which makes up 30% of the current 220ha of production. Intensive studies were conducted on the very damaging bacterial disease, Pseudomonas syringe, commonly known as shot hole, and the life cycle of key pests such as Tortrix and Thrips, amongst others. The goal was to provide crop and pest management guidelines so that quality foliage can be delivered to the marketplace. Whilst the focus was on laurel for cut foliage, the results have relevance for anyone involved in container and hedge production of the species.

The guide can be downloaded at the Teagasc publications webpage. ✽

Carrot Fly (Chamaepsila rosae) is a pest of crops in the Apiacae family, such as carrots, parsnips, celery and several herbs. Three generations of Carrot Fly occur during the year between late April and November. Adults lay eggs in the soil and the larvae feed on plants by tunnelling into the roots and can cause significant economic damage, particularly to root crops if not managed.

Integrated Pest Management methods such as rotation, sticky trap monitoring, adjusting sowing dates and the use of insect netting are implemented by growers to assist the management of pest populations in their fields. Teagasc are working with growers to predict the timing of generations of the pest using monitoring data and a weather based system MORPH. The predicted commencement of egg laying acts as a decision support to growers and assists them to accurately time and reduce pesticide use.

An exciting, ongoing project between Teagasc researchers and the Tyndall Institute aims to develop camera and artificial intelligence technology that can identify carrot fly on sticky traps in the field and send an image of a ‘predicted Carrot Fly’ to the grower for confirmation. This would significantly increase the efficiency and accuracy of monitoring and prediction of carrot fly generations, both improving IPM and making it more usable for growers. If successful in developing this technology, its potential for use on other pests and crops is vast. ✽

BEST4SOIL – WORKING TOGETHER FOR BETTER HORTICULTURAL SOILS Best4Soil is an EU funded project to promote the exchange of knowledge around soil health. It is particularly focused on bringing together growers interested in various approaches to manage soil borne diseases and plant pathogenic nematodes. Methods investigated include the application of composts or organic matter and the use of cover crops or green manures.

To support this, the Best4Soil project has developed factsheets and videos to help introduce these concepts that are available at best4soil.eu. In addition to this, the project has developed databases, or decision support tools, which help growers to plan rotations that minimise the impact and carryover of soil borne diseases and plant pathogenic nematodes.

These databases can be accessed at best4soil.eu/databases. Recently, the databases have been updated to include ‘wikis’ on selected disease and nematode species. These wikis give information on the pest lifecycle, damage symptoms and some suggestions on control approaches. Additional wikis are being added continuously to the databases.

A key focus of the project is to develop communities of practice, which are grower-led informal groupings, focused on exchanging knowledge around the core interests of the project, such as organic matter addition, use of cover crops and crop rotation. If you have an interest in forming or participating in such a community of practice, please contact Michael.

Gaffney@teagasc.ie. ✽ For more information on any element of this e-zine, please contact: Dermot Callaghan, Head of Horticulture Development Department, Teagasc, Ashtown, Dublin 15, D15KN3K Phone: +353 (0)1-805 9973; e-mail: dermot.callaghan@teagasc.ie

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

05 /TEAGASC ezine SUPPORTING A SUSTAINABLE TRANSITION AWAY FROM PEAT-USE IN MUSHROOM CASING (S-TRANSIT)

3D VISUALISATION OF PORE SPACE IN SOIL CREATED VIA THE IMAGEJ PLUG IN BONEJ, LIGHTER AREAS RELATE TO LARGER PORES AND DARKER SHADES RELATE TO SMALLER PORES.

A new four-year collaboration between Teagasc (Drs. Lael Walsh, Helen Grogan and Donal Gernon), University College Dublin (Dr. Saoirse Tracy and Prof. Olaf Schmidt), supported by industry expert Dr. Ralph Noble (Microbiotech Ltd) will see Walsh Scholar, Gabrielle Young investigate the development of mushroom casing mixes with the most promising alternative materials and conduct growth trials to evaluate their performance. This will help the mushroom industry transition away from X-RAY CT SCAN (CROSS peat, with a view of identifying and testing sustainable and suitable SECTION) OF A SOIL CORE (1 cm DIAMETER), WHITE alternative casing materials for Agaricus bisporus production.

AREAS ARE DENSE PARTS AND BLACK IS AIR SPACE. The mushroom sector is under immediate pressure to reduce peat use.

GREY AREAS ARE SOIL The aim of the project is to help the mushroom industry transition away AGGREGATES. from peat. This new project will characterise the physical properties and structure of alternative materials using X-ray CT. In particular it will focus on understanding mycelial growth responses to the physical casing structure over time, assess moisture-holding properties, and determine the environmental impact of suitable casing materials using life cycle assessment.

The project commenced in October 2021, and the participation of mushroom growers and mushroom casing producers in an industry stakeholder group are very welcome. For more information contact lael.walsh@ teagasc.ie or helen.grogan@teagasc.ie.

TEAGASC HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ARE EXPANDING:

OPPORTUNITIES FOR TWO RESEARCH OFFICERS The operating environment for the horticulture industry in Ireland has changed significantly in recent years. Teagasc Horticulture Development Department are expanding to meet these challenges and take advantage of potential development opportunities.

APPLE SECTOR RESEARCH OFFICER Recruitment is underway for a permanent research officer to lead research projects that support the development of the apple growing sector in Ireland. The work will initially focus on finding apple varieties with suitable market and agronomic characteristics and developing production protocols to meet yield, quality and consistency requirements. The post-holder may also be required to support other fruit development work in line with the business plan of the department. The successful candidate will be expected to carry out and publish research in both scientific literature and popular press, in addition to being actively involved in dissemination to industry. As well as core funded work, the post holder will be expected to secure external funding from national and international funding bodies for post-graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and contract staff, to build their team.

GROWING MEDIA RESEARCH OFFICER We seek a researcher to join our research team to focus

on developing agronomically and environmentally sound alternatives to peat growing media and mushroom casing, which meet the requirements of the professional horticulture sector. The challenge to find peat alternatives has come into sharp focus in recent times. The biggest challenge in reducing peat usage will be in the professional horticultural sector, where the existing economic model does not allow for any reduction in yield or quality. The replacement of casing material in mushroom production will be a particular challenge, as despite considerable research, no viable alternatives have been identified to date. The successful candidate will join a team of permanent and contract staff carrying out horticulture research where they will be required to collaborate internally with other relevant departments in Teagasc and externally with researchers and stakeholders. Detailed job specifications can be found at teagasc.ie/ about/opportunities/current-vacancies. ✽

ON-LINE MUSHROOM E-CONGRESS A SUCCESS Dr. Helen Grogan of Teagasc’s Horticultural Development Department gave a presentation on ‘Tackling mushroom disease control in an environmentally conscious world’ to the International Society of Mushroom Scientists (ISMS) in September. The ISMS hold an international congress every four years, with presentations on the latest advances in science, technology and industry.

This year the congress went ‘online’ as the planned event in Vancouver had to be cancelled due to COVID. The ISMS e-Congress 2021 was a new venture and a new way of doing things. Although the social aspect of the event was sorely missed, the e-Congress went incredibly well. It was confined to a window of three hours each day, for four days, to enable as many people as possible worldwide to listen in to the live sessions. There was also a host of video recordings and posters on various topics to be viewed in your own time. This worked exceptionally well and great credit is due to the ISMS team behind the event. The proceedings are free to members of ISMS, which is free to join at www.isms.biz. ✽

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INTERVIEW / 06

BARRY LUPTION INTERVIEWS GARY GRAHAM

With his departure from Bord Bia imminent, Gary Graham talks with Barry Lupton about a career dedicated to the promotion of horticulture and what the future holds

A NEW LEAF LET’S CUT TO THE CHASE. YOU’VE BUILT A SUCCESSFUL CAREER AND REPUTATION WITH BORD BIA; WHY ARE YOU LEAVING? It was a tough decision and I’m very proud of Bloom, but after 20 years between Bord Glas and Bord Bia it’s time for me to get my teeth into new projects. Bloom is well established and I am confident that it will run and run.

OF THE FACTORS WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO LEAVE, WHAT WAS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT? The need to have more autonomy and more focus on horticulture rather than the wider Bord Bia remit and processes.

WHAT WILL YOU MISS MOST ABOUT THE WORK YOU WERE DOING? Working with Team Bloom and the brave creative designers who are at the centre of a €4m event that inspires a €40m consumer spend every year. I’ll really miss the judges and those fascinating debates about design and construction.

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OBVIOUSLY, I MUST ASK, WHAT WILL YOU MISS LEAST? I was always gutted for designers who gave it their all, but fell short of the top medals. Awarding low medals was always heartbreaking.

MOST PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY MOST CLOSELY ASSOCIATE YOU WITH BLOOM, BUT YOU WERE INVOLVED IN THE SECTOR LONG BEFORE AND IN DIFFERENT CAPACITIES PRIOR TO IT STARTING. WHAT WAS YOUR CAREER PATH AFTER GETTING THOSE TWO HONORS AND THREE PASSES IN THE LEAVING? Thankfully, my lousy Leaving Certificate didn’t stop me from getting into the National Botanic Gardens, after two attempts, and a great internship at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. After some time landscaping and many years of business studies/night classes the IFA gave me my big break and I got off my tools. Building a representative structure for the horticulture sector gave me great insights into what was required to develop the sector. So far, I have actioned at least three of those requirements, export development, TV and Bloom.

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06 / INTERVIEW

Try to find a passion or career that makes the world a better place for both sentient beings and/or the environment YOU COULD HAVE MADE A CAREER IN THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR, WHAT STEERED YOU TO BORD GLAS? I could never make it as a grower, designer or contractor.

Working at “industry” level, where I can facilitate and support others in their success, is very rewarding – a sort of vicarious satisfaction.

LOOKING BACK OVER YOUR CAREER, AND LEAVING BLOOM ASIDE, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY HAVE BEEN YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SECTOR. There have been many, but never on my own, always with great people. Negotiating changes to tax and VAT on plants, getting exports moving, securing support for the horticulture sector in challenging times e.g. floods, droughts, and securing the rights for growers (strawberries) to sell their produce directly at the farm gate/on the road.

IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF YOUR SELF-DEPRECATING NATURE, IT’S ONLY FAIR TO ASK FOR A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF THINGS THAT JUST DIDN’T WORK OUT. There are even more failures and these are my own!

Establishing an industry-funded development/promotion scheme, creating an Irish version of the HTA, providing more support for regional garden shows, boosting the production of Irish-grown plants, working closer with owners/managers of great Irish gardens, bringing more RHS-type initiatives to Ireland and the list goes on. Thankfully, I have a few years left to tackle some of these.

TRANSLATING BLOOM FROM A WHITE BOARD CONCEPT TO A SUCCESSFUL EVENT WAS AN ENORMOUS UNDERTAKING. WHAT WERE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES YOU AND THE TEAM HAD TO OVERCOME? Money was the biggest challenge, and it still is. In recent years it has taken close to €1m to create the show gardens. This is incredibly good value when compared to other shows, like RHS Chelsea, but it is still difficult to raise. Operationally, we struggled in the early years as there was no other event like Bloom in Ireland to learn from.

HOW HAVE THOSE CHALLENGES EVOLVED OVER THE YEARS? On the operations side, now there is a well-oiled machine that is very familiar with every aspect of Bloom. On the financial side, Bloom is now a household name and beloved by sponsors and many great charities and not-for-profits.

EVERYBODY AGREES THAT THE EVENT HAS HAD A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE SECTOR. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAVE BEEN THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACTS?

Raising the nation’s awareness of the importance of garden design and championing the joys and benefits of plants and gardens. Providing a platform for excellent designers and horticulturists, not to mention art, sculpture, food and drink.

Getting lots of kids interested in plants by bringing in circa 20,000 free of charge most years. Establishing a linked TV series i.e. Super Garden and putting gardening on the front pages and on the main news every year.

I CAN’T QUITE RECALL WHO GAVE YOU THE MONIKER, MR. BLOOM, BUT I THINK IT STUCK. JOKING ASIDE, PERSONALITIES AND RELATIONSHIPS ARE IMPORTANT FOR THE DELIVERY OF SUCH EVENTS. HOW WILL THE SHOW GO ON WITHOUT YOU? I completely agree that relationships are key, but I am very confident that the show will go on to greater heights. I have also made it clear to Bord Bia that I am available to assist where required with special relationships.

IF THERE IS TO BE A NEW MR. OR MRS. BLOOM, WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR THEM? Remember to keep horticulture at the centre of Bloom and to do everything possible to facilitate the designers to create amazing gardens.

HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE EVENT EVOLVE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS? Like many others, I want to see Bloom use its important place in the Irish social calendar to help us to mitigate the climate crisis and stop biodiversity loss. How? By placing sustainability at the centre of every garden, feature and piece of infrastructure. I would also like to see RTE step up and provide the sort of coverage that the BBC provides for RHS Chelsea.

SPEAKING OF MONIKERS, YOU WERE AFFECTIONATELY REFERRED TO AS SIMON TROWEL WHEN SERVING AS LEAD JUDGE IN THE GARDEN MAKEOVER SHOW SUPER GARDEN. WILL YOU STILL BE INVOLVED, AND IF NOT, WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE SHOW? My son Geoff came up with that name. In the early days of Super Garden I was very aware that professional landscape contractors were trying to maintain high standards, so I came across as a little cranky. Yes, the show will go on and I am involved. Super Garden 2022 is already “in the can” and there will be two great winners bringing their gardens to Bloom next year. I do not know what will happen for 2023 but I would love to stay involved – the “Bloom ambassador” maybe. “Envoys” are getting bad press these days.

THE CONFLUENCE OF INCREASED ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS, THE MAINSTREAMING OF GARDENING, A RISE IN LANDSCAPE APPRECIATION AND EVEN THE PANDEMIC HAS CHANGED THE DIRECTION OF IRISH HORTICULTURE. WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGE OVER THE NEXT DECADE? Recently I heard RHS Vice President Baroness Floella Benjamin suggest that “ornamental horticulture” could be better and more accurately described as “environmental

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INTERVIEW / 06 horticulture.” I was jealous that I didn’t think of it. I believe that, at long last, horticulture will find its place in the sun at the centre of everything that we do in the economy and in society for our human and planetary health and wellbeing.

FOR SUCH A SMALL SECTOR, WE HAVE OUR FAIR SHARE OF REPRESENTATIVE BODIES; THE ALCI, ILI, GLDA, IFA, ISNA, HIF AND THE HORT BOARD TO NAME BUT A FEW. IT’S BEEN ARGUED THAT THIS FRAGMENTED REPRESENTATION IS DETRIMENTAL TO ACHIEVING SHARED GOALS. DO YOU THINK THERE IS SCOPE FOR OVER-ARCHING REPRESENTATION, AND IF SO, WOULD YOU CONSIDER LEADING IT? Yes there is always scope for collaboration and pooling of resources. I would always want to assist this sort of initiative if there was an ambition to make great things happen.

THAT’S ALL GREAT, BUT WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DO? I will focus on the house and garden for a few months and then I will focus on a few projects that I had to park for 20 years. They are all horticulture-related but it is too soon to name them.

YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES WITH YOUR YOUNG SELF, JUST AS YOU’RE FILLING IN YOUR CAO FORM. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF? Try to find a passion or career that makes the world a better place for both sentient beings and/or the environment.

Remember to have some fun, practice mindfulness and try to be kind, starting with yourself. ✽

GARY GRAHAM can be contacted at gary@hortitude.ie

© PESHKOV/123RF.COM

YOU HAVE A NUANCED UNDERSTANDING OF THE HORTICULTURE SECTOR’S LIMITATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES. WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE - AND IF YOU HAD NO RESTRICTIONS - WHAT FIVE THINGS WOULD YOU CHANGE TO MAXIMIZE POTENTIAL? There is no shortage of good ideas. However, in my experience, you need well-resourced champions to bring ideas to fruition and someone has to help them to pay their bills. That said, a good start would be to increase Irish horticulture production and to place more value on green infrastructure and the people who design, build and maintain it. This would include better pay for staff, more appreciation for green public spaces, parks and street trees, and more emphasis on horti-tourism with better promotion of the green spaces/gardens that we have. More joined up thinking and actions across state/commercial/representative bodies would also serve to maximise potential.

IT’D BE UNDERSTANDABLE IF YOU CHOSE TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT, CHANGE COURSE, OR SIMPLY BUY A YOGA MAT AND A DRYROBE, BUT I SUSPECT HORTICULTURE HAS NOT HEARD THE LAST OF YOU JUST YET. SO, WHAT’S NEXT FOR GARY GRAHAM? I already have the meditation cushion and I’ll be getting the Dryrobe soon, but I plan to work for another decade or more if I’m able. I will continue to work as a board member/trustee of The Sanctuary and The Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Garden – two great charities. I would like to use more of my executive coaching and my mindfulness training.

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

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Summer 2019

AUTUMN/WINTER 2019

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2019

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News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

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HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

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MAKING THE PHOENIX BLOOM BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS GARY GRAHAM

WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

TERRY O’REGAN REACHES RETIREMENT AND ASKS THAT VITAL QUESTION?

Autumn/Winter 2021

News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

THE THERAPEUTIC USE OF HORTICULTURE IN IRELAND

LIAM KELLY EXPLORES A GREENER SHOP FLOOR

WE’RE WINNING THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM

AVOIDING THE PITFALLS News, analysis and trends in landscape, garden retail & edible horticulture

COLM KENNY THROWS A SPOTLIGHT ON PROCUREMENT ISSUES

COLM KENNY DIGS DEEP ON URBAN TREES

IRELANDS TRADE MAGAZINE

MEADOW MYTHBUSTER

RACHEL FREEMAN REVIEWS THE INAUGURAL SYMPOSIUM ON SOCIAL AND THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE

MITTELSTAND LESSONS FROM GERMANY

CHANGING THE RETAIL CLIMATE

GARDENING ON A THE EDGE

SANDRO CAFOLLA TACKLES MYTHS AROUND MEADOW CREATION AND MAINTENANCE

PATRICIA TYRELL REVIEWS THE RECENT GLDA SEMINAR

A NEW LEAF

LUPTON INTERVIEWS BORD BIA TOUR BLOOM’S GARY GRAHAM DÓNALL FLANAGAN SHARESBARRY INSIGHTS FROM GERMAN NURSERIES STUDY

ALCI AWARDS 2019

IRELAND'S LEADING CONTRACTORS ANNOUNCED

THE CALL OF THE WILD

Spring 2021

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FÉIDHLIM HARTY ON THE JOYS OF REWILDING A GARDEN

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Volume 6 Issue 3

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EUGENIA FEZZA OF TEAGASC DISCUSSES METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE MONITORING AND CONTROL OF BLACK VINE WEEVIL IN CROPS

WILDFLOWERS

NOELEEN SMYTH ON HOW HORTICULTURE CAN SUPPORT THE BEES

VALUE OF THE GARDEN MARKET 2020

BORD BIA’S CAROL MARKS OUTLINES RECORD GROWTH IN 2020

MAYNOOTH GREEN CAMPUS: A SCHOOL FOR ECO-CITIZENSHIP

MAINTAINING MARGINS THROUGH A CHALLENGING YEAR

DR. JOE LARRAGY DETAILS THE HARD WORK OF STAFF AND STUDENTS IN CREATING A GREEN CAMPUS

BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS DARRAGH CONNOLLY

TIME FOR COMBAT

SHINING A LIGHT ON SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

JOHN MURPHY ISSUES A CALL TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE WITH SENSIBLE BUT URGENT PLANTING INITIATIVES

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LANDSCAPE / 07

Féidhlim Harty tracks the principle of succession in a wild garden

THE CALL

OF THE WILD

W

e bought our house in 2008, just as the housing bubble was at its most inflated.

I'd never really wanted to move, but it had been on the cards and now it was time. We got the keys in April. I don't think there was a single day that summer without rain. The back kitchen door opened south onto grey skies and a growing puddle that swelled to a broad shallow pond as the days lengthened and then shortened again. I dug a drain and created a new patio of local stone flags, but for all my love of water and wetlands, I wasn't my best self that year.

The house was dry and airy, which was a novelty, having spent the previous decade in a leaky but beautiful cottage.

At half an acre, the garden was spacious for a town site, but abundant with rushes and a brace of dark looming conifers.

After planting a twin row of coloured willows for a future tunnel and for screening from the road, we decided to

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minimise the mowing and wait to see what would emerge.

Our new patch of lawn, located on the north side of Ennis town, on the outskirts of Burren geology, did not disappoint.

That first damp summer was a tad rushy, but soon rich purple heads of self-heal poked through the deep green thatch and, to my delight, three spotted orchids emerged under the western boundary hedge, all bright and pink and welcoming.

I'd planted about a hundred trees around the edge of the garden: a mix of willow, alder, hazel, ash (back when ash was still on the planting lists) and an assortment of cultivated fruit and nut trees. I worried that the willows would shoot up and crowd out the fledgling orchids, smothering out any chance they had for light and space. On the contrary, as the willows climbed skyward, the orchids seemed to take great pride in spreading out horizontally, slowly but steadily taking up ever greater territory on the damp lawn. They are still spreading, year on year, beautiful delicate exotic blooms through the mix

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06 / RETAIL

I had expected the self-heal to spread, but watched with wonder as the species composition in the main lawn shifted and changed

of grasses and other flowers.

In a darker patch amongst the perimeter trees, a couple of common twayblade plants appeared. Whoever named these small green flowers missed a trick. They'd happily sport the name ‘greenfly orchids’ given their shape and colour.

I had expected the self-heal to spread, but watched with wonder as year after year the species composition in the main lawn shifted and changed. If this was due to changing weather patterns or natural successional processes I do not know, but it has provided us with a living kaleidoscope of colour, shape and form for each spring and summer that we have lived here.

Self-heal gave way to golden tufts of birdsfoot trefoil. Lady's smock has crept in through the grasses, more in some years, less in others. Dandelion provides early nectar for the bees and its leaves combine with Sorrel and plantain for green breakfast smoothies, along with kale from the veg beds, haw leaves from the hedge, fennel and sweet Cicely from the herb beds and an

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LANDSCAPE / 07 apple for sweetness.

Clovers, red and white; figwort; a purple vetch clinging to what remains of the conifer stand; daisies crowding into the shorter mown areas of pathways; primroses spreading beneath a hedge. Every year something new, something fresh, appears.

The crown jewel, though, is the unassumingly named knapweed. The wonderful rich purple flowers are much loved by bumblebees. In the autumn the round heads of fat seeds attract the red, black and yellow wing-flash of the goldfinch.

The stalks bend almost to the ground as the birds dine in luxury on the ripe seeds.

The trees are perhaps the most magnificent volunteers on the un-mown lawn. Plenty of sallies have sprung up. They're probably grey or goat and, as a willow system designer, I'm sure I should know the difference! A scatter of hazels, from nuts dropped under taller trees by a distracted bird perhaps, and a handful of birch trees, windblown from some neighbouring garden. The tallest of these must be ten inches in diameter at the base and no less than twenty feet high, with wonderful silver stripe-mottled skin, peeling in delicate layers, revealing ever paler colours beneath.

We dug a pond with some WWOOFers (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) in the early years. Partly for habitat, partly for keeping wetland plants wet en-route to reed bed customers. Lilac coloured water mint, daffodil-yellow Iris and long seed-filled heads of pendulate sedge all crowd the margins. The pond changes a bit more dramatically than the lawn as it gets raided for some planting contract when I run low on stock and it takes a while to recover. It's always a source of interest to me, to the water boatmen, and to the occasional newt.

Even with veg beds and a tunnel, pears, apples, a suite of soft fruit and now the first crop of cultivated cob nuts, sweet chestnuts and walnuts – it is the ever changing canvas of the wild lawn that brings me the most joy. With an annual mow in the autumn, and semi-regular summer forays along more-or-less fixed pathways, it provides an abundance of colour and interest, inviting bees, butterflies and birds to join the display. Bats, too, come for night dwelling insects, flitting about on leather wings at twilight. A reminder of the unending activity that any rich habitat will invite into its confines and confidences.

A mini woodland has developed beneath a willow tree near the pond. A small weeping willow, neglected of pruning in my early tenure as garden steward, sprouted some tall osier branches and snuck up before I noticed what was happening.

As in much of the rest of the garden we sat back to see what would unfold. It has supported a number of swings, been a climbing frame and a hammock post, survived a heavy storm and is now one of the more mature trees in our garden. It has also been a lesson in woodland succession. Birds have clearly visited it to rest after feasting on haws and wild cherries. A thicket has emerged through the sparse grass beneath. I've tried to dig them up to transplant the saplings, but to no avail. The roots are too well protected by the larger willow roots around them. The tallest cherries are over ten feet tall and are slowly making their way up towards the sky.

I debate whether to trim the willow branches judiciously, to assist their stretch towards the light, or to sit back and

and their habits far better than I do. Is it an innate human trait to interfere? I'm not sure, but every year or so I succumb and remove a willow bough to let in some sunshine. I justify myself by thinking that the tree shouldn't grow too tall and keel towards the house, as it did in the last big storm, and that in two years the firewood will have lost its store of moisture and will warm the stove.

What would happen if quiet, unneeded corners of gardens and farms and green spaces were given similar space? Space to breathe and pause and dance with the pollinating insects and visiting birds and simply be self-willed for a few years, maybe ten, maybe longer. What wonders, what beauty, would emerge? Unexpected, unasked for, unpredictable. Perhaps it's not just green garden corners that need space and time to patiently unfold, perhaps we all do. ✽

PERMACULTURE PRINCIPLE: SUCCESSION

In permaculture design, the principle of Succession serves as a reminder that gardens or other design projects will shift and change over time. How will our walnut trees look in 20 or 100 years? What temporary planting can go between them, that will then be removed as the larger trees mature? How do we phase planting and planning to create supportive systems that will develop and evolve to support us and our unfolding design into the future?

While permaculture design endeavours to make best use of our knowledge of the garden or other system we are working with, rewilding approaches the successional process with curiosity rather than a fixed expectation of a set outcome. Permaculture and rewilding intersect when the goal is the creation of a self-supporting habitat for the benefit of nature.

watch the interplay between species that know one another

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

FÉIDHLIM HARTY is an environmental consultant and writer. His most recent book Towards Zero Waste – How to Live a Circular Life is available at his website: wetlandsystems.ie

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GLEE 2021 HOW WAS IT FOR YOU? Andy Campbell makes a welcome return to the UK’s leading garden and outdoor living trade show, GLEE Birmingham

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fter a two-year hiatus, the return of an in-person GLEE Birmingham this September was a very welcome relief and, in my opinion, a huge success. Admittedly, it felt different from previous GLEEs. A small number of larger suppliers had chosen not to exhibit, having established their own showrooms where potential new customers can receive more individual attention. Overall, however, it felt very well supported by exhibitors and visitors alike, and my sense was that everyone was just delighted to be out and about talking about past, present, and future trade, and doing good business together.

Everyone I have spoken to since has echoed this sentiment.

Perhaps the single biggest theme to emerge as a rapidly growing trend was strong support for the sustainability agenda. This was gaining momentum pre-Covid, but not surprisingly tended to take a backseat during. It is now reemerging strongly and was exemplified at Glee by a range of products. Innovations ranged from recycled materials and alternatives to plastic, such as plant pots manufactured from bamboo; to a reduction in plastic packaging; and organic and natural garden care ranges for plant feeding, pest and weed control.

In addition to this, there was a significant increase in the presence and profile of peat-free growing media.

Outdoor living ranges, including fire-

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pits and pizza ovens, were ever-present, bolstered by the significant increase in holidaying at home, or staycation-ing as it has become known. This was supported by a much wider offering of logs and fuels produced from alternative raw materials, informed by new legislation passed in the UK regarding maximum moisture levels for wood products.

There was a noticeable lack of representation of suppliers from the landscape sector, in particular timber product providers. This sector has always had a fluctuating presence at GLEE, but in years past they may have filled 1 or 2 halls by themselves. With the global demand for many of their raw materials skyrocketing, prices soaring and domestic demand very buoyant, I foresee it could be some considerable time before this sector of the market stabilises again.

Through all of my conversations with visitors and exhibitors, it became abundantly clear that the industry has seen a seismic shift in buying behaviours and patterns. It has changed from ‘just in time’ to ‘just in case’. Garden retail buyers are multi-sourcing a lot more.

Rather than maintaining a small number of preferred suppliers for a defined range, they are now spreading their risk by ordering similar and competing branded products from a range of different suppliers. This is in an effort to cover all bases, in case, during a particular season, any one supplier is struggling to keep up with demand. This

inevitably means rekindling lapsed supplier relationships or opening new accounts. In the short term, this approach will lead to range proliferation and an increase of choice on the shelf for the consumer which could ultimately lead to a degree of confusion - but I imagine this will settle down over time.

It has become very obvious, over the past 18 months, just how important constructive customer/supplier relationships are when it comes to unprecedented demand and restricted supply. When there was a positive relationship, both parties communicated well and proactively managed the situation.

In terms of supply chain dynamics, the other fundamental change has been the quantity of stock being ordered upfront. More than ever before, larger pre-season orders are being placed for earlier delivery, often before Christmas but certainly expected

by January 2022. Ironically, delayed containers of garden furniture ordered earlier in the year are still arriving, whilst stock for the 2022 season will start to roll in over the next three months. This only serves to blur the end of one buying cycle and the start of the next. Some garden retailers have the space to display this category right through the winter. If they do not, then gardening and outdoor living departments are still likely to be set up and available for sale quite a lot earlier than in previous years, particularly as not all Christmas stock will have made it across the seas from the Far East in time for Christmas 2021.

As a consequence of pump-priming the supply pipeline in this way, many retailers with storage areas on-site will be stock-piling in all their available space.

Those who don’t have available storage areas are trying to rush through planning to increase storage capacity on their own premises, whilst others have been acquiring or leasing external warehousing nearby. Historically, purchasing or hiring empty containers as a quick fix for extra protected stock-holding has provided an answer, but the current availability and cost of containers for this purpose has

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

08 / RETAIL

practically ruled this out as an option.

The growth in storage and handling capacity, whether on or off-site, is also being fuelled by the increase in online ordering, ‘click and collect’ and home delivery, much of which came about during the pandemic and looks set to remain a key ingredient of how garden retailers serve their local catchment area. The challenge will be the efficient management of these processes to avoid double-handling, wasted effort, and additional cost pressures.

An important implication of this major change in the timing and quantity of stock intake is that it necessitates careful management of cash flow in the first half of next year as the true level of sales is measured.

With a significant increase in the stock levels sitting at retail level, this gives the supply base the opportunity to maintain production and to stock build, ready to supply as pre-season stocks diminish. It would be naïve, though, to think that the supply chain will flow seamlessly for 2022, with no out of stocks and no rationing needing to be applied at some point on selected ranges. In reality, it will probably be 2 to 3 years before it settles down and flows smoothly again.

GLEE, in my book, is a ‘must visit’ trade show. It always has been and hopefully always will be. As garden retailers, our whole business revolves around buying and selling gardening products, along with home categories and often catering.

Therefore, I believe it is essential to fully understand what is going on in terms of market trends, new products, emerging

suppliers, packaging innovations, different ways of presenting the offer, and all the industry services available to help improve and develop business.

The timing of GLEE is moving for 2022, to June, and the jury is still out on the impact this will have. I am sure they have done their homework and believe it is the right thing to do. One thing is for certain, the last year and a half has seen great innovations in product development and a radical extension of the buying cycle by at least 3 months. I would also be very surprised if some of the supply companies that didn’t exhibit this year don’t return next year, even if with reduced scale stands. Personally, I am excited and looking forward to it already! ✽

ANDY CAMPBELL is an independent business development consultant specialising in the garden centre industry with approaching 40 years’ retail experience.

Contact details: 0044 (0)7788 567011 / andy@ andycampbellconsulting.co.uk / www.andycampbellconsulting.co.uk

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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Terry O’Regan on strategies to deal with time lost due to weather disruptions

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ny tennis fan who tunes in to coverage of Wimbledon every summer is intimately familiar with the frustration that arises when the slightest spattering of rain grinds the tournament to a halt. The TV cameras provide us with panoramic shots of thunder-laden clouds drifting over the London skyline and the players gather up their gear and head for the dressing rooms.

On landscaping sites facing similar threats, rain can stop more than play, but it is often a slower process. The oncoming downpour is greeted with optimistic mutterings of, “It might not come to much,” and work continues until the rain becomes torrential. Even then, weather gear is donned,

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You may choose to turn a blind eye to the issue, but in almost every year there will be a few disruptive weather events and work proceeds until conditions are finally intolerable. As workers retreat to uncomfortable van cabs, there are already suggestions that “It’s brightening in the west!” Australians in their bluntly perceptive style call these the ‘wet ass days’!

It’s very hard to plan for the weather in Ireland and a delayed tennis match is small fry when compared to a new lawn, raked out and ready for seeding, being washed away by a thunderstorm! I well remember one of the most challenging projects we had around a period house north of Carrick on Suir, it featured geometric slopes and very large level areas all just finished and seeded when a cloudburst created havoc.

Landscape folk have little choice but to plan as best they can for weather events. Rain is not the only disrupter of landscaping activities – frost and snow play their part in the drama also. In a world where every breath we take seems to be legislated for, it is extraordinary that the bureaucrats in Brussels (let alone the Custom House) have yet to sink their teeth into the ‘wet ass day’ issue!

I recently came across a Dáil Éireann debate from December 1945, between a Mr. Lemass and a Mr. Dockrell.

It concerned contributions to a Wet Time benefit fund and payment arrangements thereof. Painters of lamp posts,

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

© HORVATH MARKKK

WHEN RAIN STOPS MORE THAN PLAY!

09 / INSIGHT

All enterprises in the landscape/nursery-stock sector should have systems in place to deal with most aspects of anticipated disruptive weather events © UX N I DONESIA U / NSPLASH.COM

certain types of railings, and petrol tanks were not entitled to the benefit, whilst painters of buildings were.

Things have not moved on. In fact, over the intervening years, our elected representatives seem to have washed their hands of the issue. This is illustrated by the following extracts taken from the Workplace Relations Commission’s website, on the topic ‘Absences due to Extreme Weather Events'.

“In general, there is no statutory entitlement for an employee to be paid if they cannot attend work because of extreme weather. Any more beneficial arrangement is a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee.

Normally, employees are entitled to notice of at least 24 hours of a roster change. However, this does not apply in exceptional circumstances as with extreme weather events.

In these circumstances, the employer may put employees on a period of 'layoff'. An employer may lay off employees when there is no work available for a temporary period with that employer. If employees are laid-off then the employer is not obliged to pay employees. Laid-off employees may be entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Jobseekers Allowance from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection for the days they are not working.

Employers may have included policies and procedures in their contracts of employment to cover severe weather events which may include: The taking of annual leave for the days absent to avoid employee loss of earnings; Agreement to work back the hours/days lost; Alternative opening days on a day where the business is normally closed; Working from home where feasible and practical; Working from an alternative location where feasible and practical or other beneficial arrangements.”

Landscapers straddle the great divide between agriculture and construction and are not bound by construction sector agreements. However, many work on larger projects where they might find themselves facing obligations arising from an SEO (Sectoral Employment Order - Construction Sector), so it is worth noting the following extract from an Irish Times report on 29/07/2021: “Trade unions in the construction sector are to seek a minimum guaranteed 39-hour week for workers as part of a proposed revised sectoral employment agreement.

Essentially the unions want to see an end to the practice of construction workers being sent home without pay when work was not possible due to inclement weather.”

I remember chatting with a German landscaper about how they dealt with long cold winters. He said that they simply closed down and staff went to the south of Spain or Italy. I was envious of that solution. A visit to discussion sites on the internet throws up a wide range of approaches to the problem from construction sites across the world.

You may choose to turn a blind eye to the issue, but leaving aside the added risks of global warming increasing the severity of our weather events, and despite the illusion that the only weather disruptions in Ireland comprise of gentle mists or soft rain, in almost every year there will be a few disruptive weather events. Well-managed enterprises aim to minimise ‘fire engine’ responses as much as possible.

In our case, the ‘fire engine’ was a long, lean, hungry rat easing himself in under the shed door. He focussed my mind

on the need to get to grips with the weather. Winter 1990-91 had delivered an extended hard cold snap, with the ground frozen solid for weeks. By late January the rats were seeking refuge in the back corners of our corrugated iron shed. I was standing in the shed discussing the weather situation with my business partner when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted that particular rat arriving to join our conversation.

We had tried to keep staff productively occupied until the ground thawed, but there is only so much pruning and cleaning-up you can do on a work site. For many years, we’d already had a limited scheme in place to deal with weather disruptions, but it was not designed to cope with weeks of hard frost. In 1991 we reviewed and expanded that scheme.

The scheme involved management building an agreed fund by retaining the extra pay portion of overtime typically worked during the summer months. We would use that fund to pay employees when weather events prevented them from working. The scheme was more complex than that and included the addition of a small percentage to recognise the saving in bank interest as effectively the fund was working capital. Also, when an employee’s fund reached its maximum target, the employee could draw on it to an agreed extent, towards time off for personal reasons. The scheme involved administrative time input each week. It was agreed with staff and was incorporated into our contract of employment document. It served us well over subsequent years.

To conclude, I would suggest that all enterprises in the landscape/nursery-stock sector should have systems in place to deal with most aspects of anticipated disruptive weather events. Or maybe you would prefer to wait until a long lean rat eases his way under your shed door! ✽

TERRY O’REGAN, pursued a career in the Irish landscape sector for some 50 years as a contractor and consultant, before “retiring” recently. For much of that time, he was also an advocate of ‘bigger picture’ and ‘outside the box’ thinking. He continues with the latter and also provides a mentoring service for landscapers, he can be contacted at 087-240 7618 and terryjoregan@gmail.com.

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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Photo by: MAURA BOYLE

MAYNOOTH GREEN CAMPUS: A SCHOOL FOR ECO-CITIZENSHIP

Dr. Joe Larragy, Founder Chairperson of Maynooth Green Campus, details the hard work of staff and students that led to their many successful initiatives

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s the realisation grows that we are in an era of damaging climate change and profound biodiversity loss, it is all too easy for the individual to give up hope. But 20km west of Dublin, on a higher education campus, a fascinating initiative defies the odds. Maynooth Green Campus (MGC) promotes practical action on the environment, changes in the curriculum, research on the big environmental challenges, and public engagement with wider civil society and government.

A green campus is not solely about reducing the carbon footprint on one site. A university campus is an exciting and crucial location for learning. Everything that happens on campus grounds during the time students are doing degrees can become a learning focus for them and can contribute to the kind of attributes that are needed in graduates who go on to play their part in economic and societal life in the future.

All green campus initiatives can have an impact through shaping the experience and outlook of graduates.

FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS In 2012, MGC started with a committee examining how to improve social and environmental spaces for the college community. Before too long, MGC saw the need to look at the wider context and examine the environmental impact of the growing population and increased activity on the campus. From small beginnings this voluntary committee has been changing the discourse, informed by evidence, and empowering staff, students, and surrounding local communities to shape their future together through increased

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ecological awareness and citizenship.

AN TAISCE’S GREEN CAMPUS PROGRAMME The committee registered with An Taisce’s new Green Campus programme, accredited by Copenhagen-based Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). This provided a basic template for action. MGC set up working groups, under the headings of waste, water, biodiversity, energy, travel and transport, and climate justice. Great strides followed. The working group approach made it easier to work with campus management and staff on specific areas, while the committee became a clearing house and forum. MGC soon linked up with campus planning, estates, and general services departments to coordinate efforts and audit progress. They organised team building and awareness raising, litter picks, competitions and energy saving such as the ‘Maynooth Unplugged’ campaign to switch off computers and chargers at weekends. Over roughly five years the work began to bear fruit, and in 2018 Maynooth was awarded the Green Campus Flag in the five original thematic areas, setting a precedent by winning recognition for the new theme of Climate Justice.

BIODIVERSITY, WILDFLOWER MEADOWS AND POLLINATORS Biodiversity has been a huge part of the innovative work at Maynooth. The biodiversity working group, led by Dr Jim

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

STEPHEN SEAMEN RECEIVES POLLINATOR AWARD PHOTO BY SARAH LARAGY

09 / INSIGHT

WILDFLOWER WALK PHOTO BY SARAH LARAGY

Carolan, Dr Gail Maher and Stephen Seaman, grounds

supervisor, has drawn praise from far and wide. Our extensive wildflower meadows reached 1 million square feet in 2021. Biodiversity work includes walks, talks, data recording of campus flora and fauna and participation in the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. This work is linked to learning and research on, for example, pollinators and on the effects of glyphosate. Bird boxes and bat boxes have been installed across campus. In addition to the Green Campus Flag (2018), Maynooth won a Green Flag for Parks (2019) and in 2020 was AllIreland Pollinator overall Award winner.

FROEBEL: FROM SCHOOL TO THE FIELDS Dr Máire Nic an Bhaird and Laoise Ni Chléirigh, from the Froebel (primary education) Department, collaborated with colleagues and Kildare County Council on two biodiversity enhancement projects called Dearcán (acorn) and Tairseach (threshold) funded by Project Live and the Healthy Ireland Government Scheme. These real-life biodiversity and well-being

projects have enhanced both pedagogy and peer-learning among students, and local communities.

The Dearcán project, adapted in the face of isolation during Covid-19

staff and students.

lockdowns, included workshops for schools, biodiversity and wellbeing videos for Kildare citizens.

It contributed to lesson plans and is complemented by a rooftop biodiversity garden on the MU School of Education. Tairseach is a project involving the creation of a Tree Trail across parts of the campus with digital mapping resources. Máire notes, “this biodiversity work has given us a greater sense of personal and professional identity, efficacy, spiritual growth, and moral development.”

of very old water mains (the campus dates from 1795). There are now more drinking fountains suitable for filling bottles, rainwater collection butts for ground-staff to use, water harvesting in new buildings for reuse, cistern blocks in toilets, and tap replacement.

WILDFLOWER WALK Maynooth campus exceeded the government target of reducing electricity consumption by over 33% per FTE student between 2009 and 2020.

LED lighting has been installed across buildings and grounds. Solar panels have been put on some existing and new buildings. Insulation has been improved through retrofitting and meeting high standards in new buildings. Heating systems have been replaced and modularised. Maynooth University reached the ISO 50001 energy standard in 2018, which recognises both best practice and user engagement among

WATER Water conservation has greatly improved following the replacement

WASTE Waste management was stepped-up.

Innovations include free reusable water bottles for new students, substitution of compostable cups for disposables, and incentives to use keep cups.

Bins are organised across campus to separate paper, cardboard, general waste, electrical waste, batteries etc.

Food waste is taken off campus and mechanically composted and can be reused on the grounds. Landfill has been reduced from over 65% 10 years ago, to near-zero. Cardboard compacting takes place on campus and paper usage has been reduced across all activities. Old computers are now securely wiped and collected by NRB for reconditioning and reuse.

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT Over the five-years up to 2019, private car use fell from 60% to 32%. Car-

Photo by: MAURA BOYLE

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INSIGHT / 09 pooling, parking management, cycling promotions, charge-points for EVs, repairs and second-hand bike sales were set up. Public travel is encouraged and MGC promotes walking-for-health in conjunction with the RSA “step challenge” and “Marchathon” initiatives.

On campus conventional petrol and diesel utility vehicles have been replaced by a fleet of narrow-gauge electric vehicles used in catering, postal, Photo by: MAURA BOYLE grounds, and cleaning services.

MAYNOOTH DECARBONISATION ZONE Lecturer Michael Kenny led the formation of Maynooth (town) Sustainable Energy Committee (MSEC) with the support of the SEAI. In 2020, MSEC successfully proposed Maynooth town as the lead decarbonisation zone for the county, opening the way for greater efforts in relation to household retrofitting, community energy, cycling and pedestrian networks, planting of indigenous trees, progressive agriculture and hedgerows, youth engagement, and working with Maynooth University.

CLIMATE JUSTICE From the start, MGC also saw the need to highlight climate justice and global challenges related to the environment.

Indeed, MGC brought together Maynooth University, the older seminary, St. Patrick’s College Maynooth (SPCM), and Trócaire, the international relief and development agency, whose headquarters are located on the campus. In June 2015, Maynooth University became the first in Ireland to adopt a policy to not invest any funds in fossil-related activities.

LINKING LEARNING TO THE GLOBAL GOALS (SDGS) Maynooth Green Campus has a charter that includes support for Sustainable Development Goals and promotes the mainstreaming of sustainability across teaching and research.

Students now want a greater environmental and climate focus in the curriculum, as shown in a recent survey by Maynooth SU. In 2021, under the guidance of Lecturer Michael Kenny, faculties, academic departments, research Institutes and centres were surveyed on teaching and research across the university to map the Sustainable Development Goals. The findings can offer a baseline for greater integration of SDGs with teaching.

SUSTAINABLE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE A recently formed MGC ‘Sustainable Food and Agriculture Working Group' has completed an ‘Edible Garden’ Project.

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This includes an array of fruit, vegetables, herbs and heritage apple trees that has transformed a once grey vacant ‘corridor’ between buildings into a vibrant and productive landscape, enhancing and strengthening the University’s public realm. Led by Dr Patricia Kettle and grounded in a pedagogy of community-engaged learning and the SDGs, the garden provides links to learning and research, in an interdisciplinary space where staff, students and the local community can cultivate food, interact with nature, and share knowledge. As Patricia notes: "Wellfunctioning public spaces rely on involving people in the creation of that space."

Linking local learnings about food to the global challenge of food sovereignty, geography Lecturer Dr. Alistair Fraser, commented, “Food sovereignty is about trying to transform the food system by empowering food producers who adopt agroecological approaches. The role of a university campus is to help foster and promote that idea, not least by enabling networking to occur via events.”

HEALTH WELLBEING AND THE SDGS While aspects of health and wellbeing are embedded in all Maynooth Green campus work, this topic has now become the focus of a specific health and wellbeing working group. Linked to SDG 3, Good Health & Wellbeing is led by Dr Ronan Foley, Associate Professor in Geography. The group will focus on the wider dimensions of public health, health promotion, and developing campus-wide assets to promote health and wellbeing. Ronan believes that Maynooth Campus, with its many natural “green and blue” spaces can readily host a wide range of student and staff activities, research projects and initiatives.

ECO-CITIZENSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY While Maynooth University is known for the contributions of Prof John Sweeney and Professor Peter Thorne to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provides the basis for climate talks now set to happen in Glasgow at COP26, there is much else afoot. Eco-citizenship is developing and can contribute to empowerment Monumental efforts at every level of society are now more urgent than ever to mitigate climate change and adapt to the effects already being felt. These efforts will be prolonged, over decades, at least, and will require a transformation of the very way we think about the role and function of universities and the DR JOE wider questions of LARRAGY social organisation, is a retired economy and Lecturer/ ecology that campus Assistant communities can Professor help to address. in Social Policy, and Founder Maynooth university Chairperson of Maynooth campus is fast Green Campus. becoming a school for eco-citizenship. ✽

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SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS

Paul Moran provides a guide to making the most out of a social media presence for your business

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he social media revolution has entirely changed the way businesses can interact with their customers and suppliers. There are now more opportunities than ever to engage with your audience and to let the world know about your specific brand. With over half the world’s population subscribed to some form of social media, it is truly beneficial to know the fundamentals involved in making the best of your social media presence, and how not to fall into the pitfalls of wasting time & resources.

Social media is an extremely powerful resource.

However, it can be easy for your content to get lost among the endless timeline of posts about other companies’ new product lines, job listings, and professional achievements. The question then should be how to effectively use these tools to get the most out of social media. Here we’ll look at how to use social media effectively to maximise the opportunities it presents.

Firstly, we must be familiar with the core functions of social media in business. In its plainest form, social

09 / INSIGHT media is a conduit to brand awareness and a communication tool for generating business. These two pillars will be our guiding stars for everything that follows in our discussion.

It is essential to keep these in mind when making plans and taking action on social media.

KEEP YOUR POSTS IMPACTFUL & SELDOM When a business posts day, noon, and night across all of its social media channels, there is a strong chance of audience burn-out. If this happens, your audience will lose interest quickly and potentially unfollow your account. Even if they don’t click the dreaded ‘unfollow’ button, they are likely to dismiss your constant flow of content as trivial and unimportant. A general rule of thumb, within this industry, is two to three spaced-out posts per week. This keeps people engaged and you don’t have to worry about clogging up their newsfeed or imposing yourself too eagerly on their screen time. When your business does post on social media, followers are more likely to take notice and to engage by resharing, liking, or commenting.

LEARN FROM THE COMPANIES THAT DO IT RIGHT You’re too busy to reinvent the wheel and, quite frankly, the algorithms embedded within these platforms change so often that you will constantly be playing catch up. To get a better idea of how to make the most out of your output, identify the companies that are performing well and being rewarded by the platform. What companies in your industry are getting a high number of shares, likes & comments?

These might be a competitor in the industry or a partner company. I recommend that you ‘follow’ their page, see what they are posting weekly, and study how they are getting people to interact with the content that they post. Are they using paid ads as part of their strategy? Do they engage with social causes? The idea here is to mimic a formula that is currently tried and tested on the platform. This approach can save you a lot of headaches and time spent planning out an entirely original strategy.

SEEK TO GIVE REAL VALUE The question you should always keep in mind is, “what value are my posts offering to my audience?” Here at Horticulture Connected, when we share a media article online we are aware that the post must contain insightful news or trends, such as a government policy change that the industry should know about. In other words, it will benefit our audience to have access to this story. As an industry professional, what valuable insights can you bring to your followers (e.g. the best time for edging a lawn)? Seek to give valuable tips that benefit the audience and this will frame you as an expert in your area.

POST BEAUTIFUL VISUALS & PICK STRONG THEMES We are lucky to work in a visually striking and eye-catching industry. Make the most of this advantage by uploading attractive visual imagery along with your text. People are more visibly inclined in horticulture and we have so many beautiful landscapes and products to showcase in our industry. Take pictures of your work regularly, or use beautiful stock pictures if you must. Don’t forget to add those pictures

or videos to your post, they will allow you to depict certain subjects and themes that would be hard to convey in text alone. This leads us to our next area: themes. Pick three to four themes that you are passionate about and that you want to focus on with your audience. This creates a focal point of your posting and will prevent your timeline from appearing jumbled at a glance.

CASE STUDY: MEDIUM-SIZED GARDEN CENTRE This could easily be a landscaper business, a golf course, or a tree nursery, but let’s take a fictional case study of a medium-sized Garden Centre. They don’t have a social media manager but are present on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

How then, can they best use their time and resources to make the most of their social media presence? As previously mentioned, it is important to set up a publishing schedule.

We want meaningful posts that are consistent. They decide to schedule posting for every Monday evening and every Wednesday and Saturday morning.

After much research, the Garden Centre identifies other nationwide Garden Centres that have already invested in a social media strategy that has attracted a large audience.

They begin to follow these accounts on social media. They study what posts are performing well and what the public are currently engaging with in terms of post shares & likes.

Next, they decide to pick some general themes that will inform their regular posts. Gardening is fundamental so this will be their primary theme. However, this Garden Centre also decides to focus on subjects that are important to them. They are big advocates for social causes and active in local communities, so they will post about these topics too. A congratulations to a local winning football team or a promotion for a bee pollination event would be appropriate here. The idea is to build a connection and rapport with your audience. Your posts are not random, they have a recognisable thread running through them.

Now is the time to give real value back to the audience in terms of content. The Garden Centre can establish itself as credible in its craft and deliver content that its audience is interested in. A typical “add-value” post at this Garden centre may read: ‘Autumn is the perfect time for planting bulbs….

Make sure your bulbs have a chance to form roots in the ground before the frost hits’ To accompany this text, it’s the perfect time to display some visually striking images of their beautiful daffodil stock. ✽

PAUL MORAN is a Business Development Executive for Horticulture Connected. Paul has worked in Digital Sales & Marketing with high profile tech companies across Ireland previously and holds a Msc in Strategic Management & Planning from UCD Michael Smurfit Business School. When he is not buried in marketing, he loves to garden and grow his own food. He can be contacted at paul@horticulture.ie

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

27

EVENT FEATURE / 10

NANGLE & NIESEN

TREE NURSERY OPEN DAY

T

he September sun was shining as the crowds gathered for the annual open day at Nangle & Niesen nursery in Aherla, Co Cork recently. Invited guests spanned both the public and private sectors with local authorities, landscape architects, garden designers, landscape contractors and other industry professionals all gathered for a tour of the nursery and practical demonstrations.

The day was a great success.

Ronan Nangle led the nursery tour with visits to the fields to see the amenity and ornamental tree stock, including the newer plantations and mature specimens. Practical demonstrations included the process of lifting and root balling trees, lifting of bareroot trees with an examination of the vitally important fibrous root systems, and correct tree care techniques.

Discussions centered on the soil improvement practices which they have implemented over the past number of years, and the importance of nursery operations like transplanting, effective pruning, and overall crown development. A keenly debated topic was the importance of correctly specifying trees and the merits of Irish grown trees for Irish conditions over European imports.

After the tour, guests had the opportunity to network around an afternoon barbecue with refreshments before a special feature of this year’s open day, the launch of their new book ’Nangle&Niesen - A Passion for Growing'. The book showcases the trees grown at Nangle & Niesen throughout the four seasons, both in the nursery and around the country, and also the people and processes that are an essential part of what they do. Gary Graham of Bord Bia generously hosted this part of the day and spoke very kindly about the history of the nursery and his memories of the business as it has grown over the years into what it is today.

Lifting of rootball and bareroot stock for sale will begin in earnest from the beginning of November and Nangle & Niesen welcome enquiries from both trade customers and their private clients. Visits to the nursery are always welcome by appointment. ✽

28

RONAN NANGLE OF NANGLE & NIESEN TALKS GUESTS THROUGH A PRUNING DEMONSTRATION

DISCUSSING LAND PREPARATION DURING THE NURSERY TOUR

GUESTS ENJOYING THE POST NURSERY TOUR BARBEQUE AND REFRESHMENTS

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

10 / EVENT FEATURE

GARY GRAHAM OF BORD BIA WITH RONAN NANGLE

RONAN NANGLE SIGNING COPIES OF THE NEW BOOK -'A PASSION FOR GROWING'

JERRY LEHANE OF LEHANE LANDSCAPES AND JOE FURLONG OF FURLONG LANDSCAPES

DES NANGLE & EMMA NEVILLE

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

29

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11 / EDIBLES

RECLAIMING THE

HUMBLE SPUD

Lorcan Bourke, Fresh Produce and Potato sector manager of Bord Bia, on Bord Bia, Teagasc, IFA, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine joining forces to increase the volume of home-grown potatoes sold in Irish chip shops

M

inister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett has welcomed a new initiative aimed at helping Irish potato growers get their produce into Irish chip shops. Ireland, despite being a nation famous for potatoes and growing circa 300,000 tonnes per annum for domestic consumption, still imports 80,000 tonnes, or €45 million worth, of potatoes per annum. 64,000 (€33 million) tonnes come from the UK alone (source: CSO 2019). The majority of these fresh potato imports are used by chip shop owners. There are currently over 530 independent chip shops in Ireland (source: Euromonitor).

Opening a new distribution centre in addition to visiting a new purpose-built storage facility the Minister said: “A storage facility which maintains the correct sugar and starch levels in potatoes, as well as keeping them fresh beyond the winter period, is key to producing the quality that is needed in good chipping potatoes. The development of such a facility, along with the official opening today of Ireland’s first dedicated potato packer and distributor focusing on the exclusive growing of potatoes for chipping, is a real opportunity for Irish growers to supply home-grown potatoes for the Irish chip shop market.

Growing chipping potatoes is a specialist operation, and the market for them is valued at approximately €20 million per year. I think the Irish consumer, given the choice, will appreciate businesses that support local growers. This is a welcome development that will shorten the supply chain and bring plant bio-security benefits, making it a significant step forward for the sector. I would like to congratulate all involved and I look forward to seeing how the initiative progresses over the coming years.”

In 2019, as part of the ‘chipping potato’ project, Bord Bia undertook consumer and trade research to understand both the Irish consumer and independent chip shop owner’s perspective. The research revealed that over 66% of Irish consumers (2 in 3) incorrectly assume that the potatoes used to make the majority of chipper chips come from Ireland.

Approximately 3 in 4 are likely to support a chipper that sources locally grown potatoes, while 70% would consider it useful to know the country of origin of the potatoes used in their usual chipper through signage or recognised marks.

The texture of the chips, the reputation of the chipper, and the appearance of chips were cited as the most important

factors in making great chipper chips.

From the trade side, Lorcan Bourke, Fresh MARIE GEARY FROM MEADOWFRESH FOODS COOKING UP SOME LOCALLY Produce GROWN CHIPPING POTATOES FOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR HORTICULTURE PIPPA and Potato HACKETT T.D., PHOTO BY: ALISON MILES Manager, Bord Bia was encouraged by the research findings. “Some chip shop owners have already successfully put a local supply chain relationship in place, demonstrating that Irish growers can grow chipping potatoes of excellent quality. Many of the chip shop owners working with locally grown potatoes saw local supply as a great advantage in their communications with customers. I firmly believe it is a win-win situation and I would encourage any grower or chip shop owner willing to support the initiative to get in touch or visit bordbia.ie/sourcechips, with a view to establishing new trading relationships.”

GROWING AND SELLING IRISH ‘CHIPPER CHIPS’ Meadowfresh Foods based in Tallow, Co. Waterford and O'Shea Farms/Iverk Produce, based in Piltown, Co. Kilkenny have joined forces to become Ireland’s first dedicated fresh chipping potato packer and distributor. Over the past two years, Meadowfresh and O’Shea Farms have engaged with Bord Bia, Teagasc, and the IFA to support the chipping potato project and proceeded to grow specific crops for the Irish chip shop channel. Bord Bia’s Thinking House has also been working with the companies to develop new local brands, which will be used to help market Bord Bia quality assured branded Irish chipping potatoes. ✽

LORCAN BOURKE is fresh produce and potato sector manager with Bord Bia. If you have any questions or comments on the content of this feature you can contact him at lorcan. bourke@bordbia.ie

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

31

EDIBLES / 11

MUSHROOM HARVESTING

AUTOMATION Donal Gernon, specialist mushroom adviser with Teagasc, explores the advances currently being made in the field of mushroom production automation

L

ike other horticultural enterprises, commercial mushroom production is highly labour intensive.

Labour accounts for onethird of a mushroom growers overall cost of production. Mushroom growers face the constant challenge of recruiting and retaining staff to harvest their crops.

The current method of harvesting mushrooms consists of one-handed picking, manually cutting the mushroom stalk, placing the mushroom into the punnet, weighing the punnet to ensure it reaches the correct weight specification, labelling the punnet, and placing the punnet into the crate. This has been the standard process since mushroom production began. However, as the availability of skilled labour evaporates, the industry must look at streamlining the process to maximise harvesting efficiency.

On the current conventional mushroom farm, the average pick rate is between 25-30 Kilograms of mushrooms per hour. This pick rate is achieved by adopting basic harvesting principles such as graze picking and separation. Pick rate can vary from farm to farm depending on size specification per product and product mix.

Over the past two decades, many growers have been forced to close their mushroom enterprise due to difficulties found in recruiting and retaining staff to harvest their crops.

32

Unfortunately, unless mushroom harvesting automation is developed and adopted, this trend is set to continue. Due to the sensitivity of the mushroom, designing a robot to aid in harvesting is a very difficult task. The emphasis from mushroom engineering companies currently focuses on designing semi-automated systems that will increase harvester productivity by introducing twohanded picking.

Various concepts have been designed and implemented with positive results on farms all over the world. Some of these designs can be implemented into the existing mushroom tunnel structures and some technologies require investment in new buildings and infrastructure.

TILTING SHELVES The tilting shelf system is a method whereby a standard shelf is divided into two sections that tilt towards the harvester at a 45-degree angle. This makes it much easier for the harvester to see the current crop and to harvest the correct mushroom. The tilting shelf eliminates the strain of reaching across the mushroom bed to harvest mushrooms, which in turn speeds up the picking process. The shelves are only tilted during harvesting and they return to the horizontal position once picking has ceased. A mushroom conveyor runs alongside the shelves, the harvester places the mushroom

MAIN PHOTO; CONVENTIONAL DUTCH SHELVING SYSTEM; TOP RIGHT: SINGLE LAYER SYSTEM; BOTTOM RIGHT: STANDARD IRISH MUSHROOM CROP.

into designated slots and the conveyor transports these mushrooms out into the central corridor, where the mushrooms are placed in punnets.

DRAWER SYSTEM The drawer system is a system whereby a farm is designed so that crops are winched from one growing room to another during the harvest period. A picking station is located in the central corridor and the crop is pulled to the harvester. This is in comparison to the conventional picking system where harvesters move through the crop within the tunnel. The crop can be pulled across from one growing room to another several times a day to allow the harvester to easily graze pick and thus maximise mushroom size and yield.

The two big advantages to this system are that the harvester only needs to focus on one area and it is visually much easier to identify and pick the correct mushroom as there is no crop directly above the shelf.

SINGLE LAYER The single-layer system involves crops being grown in specific growing rooms up until mushrooms are ready to be harvested. They are then winched into the harvesting room. In the growing room, the crops are stacked

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

11 / EDIBLES All of these systems are designed with one aim in mind - to increase harvesting pick rates, which would allow a farm to reduce the harvesting workforce. These systems achieve this target with average pick rates of 55-80kg/hour, a significant increase, and fewer harvesters are required to pick the same amount of growing area, which is a huge benefit.

Average yields increase with the implementation of automated systems as they allow for easier graze picking and for mushroom sizes to be maximised. Also, consistent stalk lengths are optimised with the introduction of automated stalk cutters. The average yield increase is estimated to range from 3-10%.

CHALLENGES

on traditional Dutch shelving. In the harvesting room, the crop is brought down to a single layer which makes it easier for harvesters to pick compared to picking on a high-level picking trolley. Pick rates are much higher on this system.

However, this could not be implemented on an existing conventional farm. A major challenge for the single-layer system is managing the growing environment. Airflow can be difficult to perfect which can result in quality issues. Another factor that needs to be considered is that a grower would need to acquire a larger site to construct this system.

MUSHROOM PROCESSING UNIT AND CONVEYOR This system involves a conveyor, installed alongside the existing Dutch shelving, that transports mushrooms to the end of the shelf where the mushroom processing unit (MPU) is placed. This machine collects the mushrooms off the harvesting line, where the stalks are cut at the desired optimum length and placed into the correct punnet based on the mushroom size that the operator sets when commencing production. The processing machine is transferable between harvesting lines and tunnels so the farm would only need to invest in as many of these machines as the number of tunnels harvesting at any given time. The conveyor would need to be installed in each stack of shelves in each tunnel. This system can be integrated into the existing Dutch shelving system and the existing picking trolleys can also be utilised.

RESULTS These harvesting systems all have one thing in common: they will allow harvesters to pick mushrooms with both hands and eliminate tasks such as cutting the stalk, grading the mushrooms, and weighing the punnets. Other secondary tasks like emptying the stalk bucket, preparing harvesting equipment, and obtaining packaging will also be eliminated.

Significant capital investment is required for growers to invest in any of these automated systems. Although these systems have been installed in farms in Europe and Canada, there is no guarantee that they will be a success on Irish and UK farms that harvest a higher percentage of baby buttons and small closed cup mushrooms. Many of these systems are unable to accommodate flat mushrooms, which need to be placed in punnets upside down. These small factors have a major influence on productivity and the rate of return on investment. Some automated systems cannot be integrated into existing units, meaning a new farm would need to be constructed, which is an enormous investment.

Quality and presentation are also important factors to be considered when investing in automated technology. Some of these systems allow for double handling as mushrooms are picked off the crop, placed on the conveyor, and then picked off the conveyor again to be placed in the punnet.

This results in mushrooms being bruised and marked.

Mushrooms placed in punnets by robots are sometimes not presented as attractively as a harvester might. Robots placing mushrooms into punnets are not able to grade poor quality mushrooms and these mushrooms may end up in high-grade products. This could lead to customer rejections.

CONCLUSION The rate of investment in automated technologies is accelerating due to the shrinking labour market. To allow growers to invest in such technologies, access to grant aid is essential. Trialling a system on a small scale is recommended to assess the functionality and performance. The introduction of mushroom robotic harvesting in the future must also be taken into account before making a substantial investment.

Many companies are actively working to develop a robot that will harvest mushrooms, but not all semi-automated systems are designed with robotic harvesting in mind. ✽

DONAL GERNON is a Specialist Mushroom Advisor with Teagasc.

Donal provides technical assistance to all mushroom growers in Ireland and keeps growers updated on new mushroom picking technologies.

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

33

EDIBLES / 14

If you value quality, experience and reliability, make Nangle & Niesen your first choice when it comes to sourcing trees.

With over 40,000 trees in more than 200 varieties to choose from, including a large stock of mature and semi-mature trees our vast selection is backed by over 40 years of growing experience.

Plant health & biosecurity is a priority at Nangle & Niesen and at every stage of the growing cycle we ensure our trees are grown for Irish conditions.

Rathcullen, Aherla, Co. Cork, P31 HY84, Ireland 34

021 733 1126 | info@nangleandniesen.ie

www.nangleandniesen.ie

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

09 12//INSIGHT DESIGN

GREEN CITIES

AWARD

HARVEY AND CAOIMHE SMITH AT THE GREEN CITIES AWARDS LAUNCH

T

he More Green Cities for Europe campaign is inviting nominations from Irish building projects that demonstrate an innovative use of green landscaping, and that make a substantial difference to people’s lives, for the Irish Green Cities Award 2021. This annual European Union award recognises and profiles building projects that add value to the area in which they are located and bring social, economic or environmental benefits through the successful incorporation of green planting in their designs.

The Irish Green Cities Award winner will represent Ireland in the European Green Cities Award 2022, where it will be showcased at a prestigious European-wide ceremony attended by MEPs and other dignitaries. Shortlisted entrants will be profiled on social media in Ireland by the Irish More Green Cities for Europe campaign.

More Green Cities for Europe is an initiative that aims to increase the proportion of green landscaping in building projects in Ireland while encouraging the use of locally-grown planting stock. Supported by funding from the European Commission, the initiative is coordinated in Ireland by Bord Bia, in conjunction with the Irish Farmers Association, on behalf of the Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association.

ELIGIBILITY Projects eligible for the Irish Green Cities Award are wideranging, and can include school grounds and business parks, hospitals and residential areas. Submissions from other EU Member States have included: urban public parks of various sizes in France, Sweden, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Greece; a primary school in the Netherlands; and a largescale commercial unit in Germany. Full details of all entries from other EU Member States can be found at https:// thegreencities.eu/award.

Live plants should comprise a substantial part of a given building project. Projects must demonstrate the addedvalue brought by the inclusion of planting, and the positive impact it has on social cohesion; biodiversity; economic factors; climate; and human health and wellbeing. Entries are welcome from the private and public sectors. The project must be fully realised and in use, and have been completed no later than January 1, 2016.

Entrants must detail the selection, origin and quality of greenery and construction materials used; and offer an overview of the design, its environmental impact and its innovation.

Entries can be supported by visual materials, including videos,

Michal Slawski of Bord Bia on the search for ambitious, inspiring and innovative Irish ‘green’ building projects to take part in The Green Cities Award 2021 photographs or artists’ impressions. The application form is available via the More Green Cities for Europe website. The award process has been designed so that the application process should take no more than 30 minutes. Projects will be assessed by a jury that consists of representatives from the Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association, Bord Bia and an independent judge with an academic background.

Commenting on the announcement of the Award, CEO of Bord Bia, Tara McCarthy said: “The potential for urban greening projects to bring tangible economic, social, human, environmental and other benefits is increasingly wellrecognised. The Irish Green Cities Award highlights efforts from local building projects in this regard, encouraging successful, ambitious, inspiring and innovative green infrastructures projects.

“The Irish Green Cities Award is an opportunity to identify leading projects, which can serve to influence future developments and the building sector at large, and make clear the case for enhanced greening when building in our towns and cities. I urge those involved in any manner of building project, in which a meaningful effort to integrate planting into the development can be seen, to submit their project for consideration for this award.”

Chairman of the Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association, Val Farrell added: “As members of the judging panel for the Irish Green Cities Award, the Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association will be particularly keen to see the use of locally-grown plants among entrants. The benefits of locally-grown planting are many, not least economically and environmentally, and this award will help to drive home that message. On behalf of the Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association, we look forward to assessing the submissions received.”

The deadline for submissions for the Irish Green Cities Award was 11th November 2021. For more information visit https://ie.thegreencities.eu and follow More Green Cities for Europe on LinkedIn. ✽

MICHAL SLAWSKI is sector manager horticulture at Bord Bia, with responsibility for mushrooms, fruit and protected crops. He has been with Bord Bia for more than 10 years and has a Masters in Project Finance & Venture Management from NUIM.

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

35

RESEARCH / 13

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

Eugenia Fezza, Teagasc Walsh Scholar, discusses methods for improving the monitoring and control of black vine weevil in crops

Through plant trade routes, this species, native to central Europe, has spread to many other parts of the world, becoming one of the most economically important pest species of soft-fruit and ornamental crops globally VINE WEEVIL: A PERSISTENT HORTICULTURAL PEST The black vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) is a common and widespread species in Ireland and the UK that affects over 150 plant species, including soft fruits and ornamental crops. While a common pest, it is still regarded as one of the most damaging insect pests in protected horticulture. Due to the nocturnal activity of adults and the larval stages feeding below ground on plant roots, growers often report difficulty in detecting the presence of this pest and it is often only confirmed after severe damage has occurred.

Adult vine weevils are 8.5–11.5mm in length and dull grey/ black in colour, but with tufts of orange hair on their fused wing cases. All vine weevils are female and each individual is capable of laying several hundred eggs between spring and late summer. This means that new populations of this species can establish from a single weevil. The larvae are creamy white in colour, lack legs and often hold themselves in a C-shape. Larvae have chestnut brown heads and a powerful set of jaws for feeding on plant roots.

WHAT MAKES VINE WEEVIL A SERIOUS PEST Adult weevils preferentially feed on plant foliage, producing

36

characteristically irregular-shaped notches along the margins of the leaf. While adult feeding does not significantly impact plant health, it affects the aesthetic appearance of damaged plants, which in turn reduces their value. It is the larvae that affect plant health by feeding on belowground plant tissue such as roots, corms and rhizomes. Larval feeding reduces the plant’s ability to take up water and nutrients, which leads to a reduction in plant growth, yields and survival.

Vine weevil adults are not able to fly but this species has benefitted from the global trade in plants. Through plant trade routes, this species, native to central Europe, has spread to many other parts of the world, becoming one of the most economically important pest species of soft-fruit and ornamental crops globally. In addition, vine weevil has benefitted from several modern horticultural practices such as the increase in crops grown under protection, general expansion of horticultural production, the increase in production of container grown plants, the widespread use of peat based potting mixes and other growing media, in addition to black polythene mulches. For example, use of substrates and polythene mulches provide moist and warm conditions that are thought to favour larval development and adult survival during winter, as well as offer protection from predators.

Damage caused by vine weevil larvae can lead to complete crop loss if not effectively controlled in highly susceptible crops, such as soft fruit, protected ornamental and hardy nursery stock. Previously, growers utilised persistent synthetic chemical pesticides, but latterly the use of entomopathogenic nematodes to control larval populations is widespread. However, there is a lack of effective control options for adult weevils, which hampers the development of a full Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system.

ENHANCING OPTIONS FOR ADULT WEEVIL MANAGEMENT

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

11 / DESIGN

Controlling this pest can be challenging, as growers currently lack effective monitoring systems to determine the presence of this pest within crops, and options for the control of vine weevil adults. A new collaboration between Teagasc, Harper Adams University and Keele University will investigate new methods for controlling adult vine weevil on commercial soft fruit and hardy nursery stock nurseries. In particular, the project will focus on the development of an early detection system on which decisions around the application of controls can be made. Part of this approach will be to design traps which are attractive to adult weevils. Additionally, investigations on the chemical cues which cause adult weevils to group or ‘aggregate’ will be conducted, to attempt to identify and characterise these cues and to evaluate if they can be utilised to improve the trapping of adult weevils. Similarly, the role of some biopesticides (e.g., Azadirachtin), an alternative approach to the use of synthetic insecticides, will be evaluated in order to determine the ability of these products to control or alter weevil behaviour. Monitoring and controls developed in this project will provide growers with effective and reliable tools to reduce vine weevil populations to economic and agronomically acceptable levels in a sustainable approach.

PRELIMINARY RESULTS As a starting point the project investigated how vine weevil adults responded to different monitoring tool designs. Initial

VINE WEEVIL LARVAE

VINE WEEVIL PUPA

work has identified trap baits which are attractive to weevils.

Understanding the factors that affect weevil responses to monitoring tools is an essential step in developing novel designs with improved performance for monitoring purposes for use within an IPM programme. The results provide the first insights into the visual ecology of the black vine weevil and showed that a number of characteristics relating to the design of monitoring tools tested under laboratory conditions, namely colour, entrance position and height, are important in determining the attractiveness of monitoring tools to adult weevils. Results will be available in early 2022. ✽

EUGENIA FEZZA is a Teagasc Walsh Scholar based in the UK at Harper Adams University in Shropshire. She is currently working on developing improved trapping approaches for vine weevil, in collaboration with Harper Adams, Keele University and Teagasc.

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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EUGENIA FEZZA OF TEAGASC DISCUSSES METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE MONITORING AND CONTROL OF BLACK VINE WEEVIL IN CROPS

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'LYCIA' 'SIBILLA'

11 / RESEARCH

‘LYCIA’ WINS the Race in Recent

STRAWBERRY

'SIBILLA'

Variety Trial

Dr. Eamonn Kehoe, specialist soft fruit advisor with Teagasc, gives an update on the results from the recent nationwide strawberry variety trial

A

new initiative took place on several soft fruit farms across Ireland this year. Developed by Teagasc, the strawberry variety trial aimed to grow and assess several new 'June bearing' varieties of strawberries on the farms selected.

The industry is always on the lookout for new strawberry varieties that can complement the existing ones already being grown. Some may even be able to fill the existing gaps in production throughout the long season.

Different growing structures were used, including walk-in tunnels and Spanish tunnels. The main aim of the trial was to see how the different strawberry varieties perform in these structures, and in different parts of the country. All of the varieties were grown in either peat or coco peat (coir) substrates. The trial was run in association with the Italian soft fruit plant propagators Mazzoni and Salvi-Vivai (also known as CIV).

With the help of Teagasc, the growers recorded the fruit weights and the fruit quality from the individual trials.

There were both early and mid-season varieties grown. The early varieties included ‘Joly’, ‘Annely’, and ‘CIV 725’; with ‘Lycia’ and ‘Sibilla’ being the mid-season croppers. All of the varieties performed well in both the walk-in and Spanish tunnels used. Each variety cropped for about 6-7 weeks from late May to mid-July.

‘Lycia’ was the best performing variety overall. It produced a yield of 340g of fruit per plant. Overall the fruit quality was very good, but in appearance, it was very long and cylindrical. The plant was very vigorous and this helped to support and protect the fruit from the strong sunshine. ‘CIV 725’ had a slightly lower yield at 300g per plant. The fruit shape and the plant habit were quite similar to ‘Lycia’. Like ‘Lycia’ the plant was also very vigorous and needed extra leaf supports.

‘Joly’ gave the highest yield at just over 400g per plant. It is marketed as a ‘premium’ variety by the breeders. The fruit was a lovely glossy colour and the shape was much more conical. Unfortunately, the final product was a little bit soft and was prone to splitting. Fine-tuning the irrigation supply

may be a solution to the fruit splitting issue.

The earliest variety to crop was ‘Annely’, though the yield was disappointing at 300g per plant. In addition to this, the fruit quality was poor and, like ‘Joly’, was very prone to splitting.

The plant vigour was also poor. This was detrimental to fruit production as the plant was not able to produce or support a heavy crop load. ‘Annely’ had also been exposed to more direct sunshine, making it prone to over-ripening.

‘Sibilla’ is the last variety to mention. It produced 370g of fruit per plant. This variety is aimed at the processing and wholesale trade. Its fruit was conical and had a good flavour, but the colour lacked the glossy sheen of other examples, appearing duller and matte-like upon inspection.

None of the varieties showed increased susceptibility to any of the usual plant diseases, including ‘crown rot’ or ‘powdery mildew’, for example.

If fruit growers do intend to grow ‘Lycia’ or ‘CIV 725’, in particular, extra plant leaf supports are recommended due to the high vigour and the abundance of foliage produced by these plants. This is straightforward to accomplish once the supports are implemented close to the time of planting.

The trial proved very popular among the growers selected to participate. One grower who took part in the trials, Pat Clarke from Clarke’s Fresh Fruit in Stamullen, Co. Meath said, “I was delighted to have taken part in the strawberry variety trial and am looking forward to taking part in more trials in the future.” Always in search of the philosopher's stone of strawberries, all of the growers were excited to start trialling more new varieties for 2022. ✽

DR. EAMONN KEHOE is a soft fruit adviser and research scientist with Teagasc. For more information contact eamonn.kehoe@teagasc.ie

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

39

OPINION / 14

There is no point in encouraging tree planting through the present schemes if the net result is merely the replacement of the Ash, we need an aggressive approach to this problem

W

ith the global acceptance of climate change and the topical nature of the subject, I have seen many articles that question what we are going to plant in the future to cope with the changing climate. To me that is meaningless. We have no way of knowing the mix of climatic factors that will influence our future palette of plants, to pretend otherwise is folly. We don’t have time to determine how to adapt using new species, we must combat it with pragmatic and sensible actions.

Today we plant trees to suit the buildings, the services, the roads, and small gardens. Decisions are typically framed by aesthetics and limited space made available. The results are poor specimens, in poor health with limited canopies, poor carbon sequestration ratings and an extremely low Leaf Area Index (leaf cover).

Unsurprisingly, the most sought-after area in the capital, Dublin 4, has the highest leaf area index. Most of the trees were planted here well before the days of root barriers and litigation. This area is filled with London Planes, Beech, Sycamore, Oak, Blue Cedars, Pinus Sylvestris and other large, majestic trees, many of which are in people’s gardens. These large trees have an A rating for sequestering carbon.

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Conversely, most urban trees specified in contemporary landscape projects have C and D ratings. Despite having one of the highest carbon sequestration ratings, very few landscape architects are brave enough to suggest planting Sycamore, but this is what’s needed.

Sycamore, along with other A-raters such as Oak, Fagus, Liriodendron, Liquidambar, Tilia, Acer Platanoides and Pinus Sylvestris are primary tree combatants in the fight against climate change. If you’re not up to speed with tree ratings, check out ‘The Barcham eco tree tag’.

So, how do we ensure that urban tree planting is ramped up quickly and how should it be controlled? I heard of a recent incident where 300 trees were value engineered out of a rural design and build housing project. This is a similar story across the country and nothing new to anyone in the sector.

Trees being omitted, downsized, and switched is such a part of landscape development in Ireland that it’s almost expected. If we are to ensure urban tree planting is ramped up, then it’s time for robust legislation and enforcement. Given the impending climate disaster and the shocking lack of oversight and responsibility in the landscape, I personally think such actions should be criminalised.

The English Woodland Trust produced an Emergency Tree Plan for the UK in 2020. One sound recommendation was: ‘Every local authority should commit to a minimum 30% tree canopy cover for new development land. For example, a developer levy could stipulate that a minimum of 10no. 14-16cm, A rated trees are planted for every new house constructed’. That would seem like a sensible starting point for us.

An alternative approach could be the use of leaf area index (LAI) requirements for a site. These would be included at planning and followed throughout the project.

This is a developing technology, and anyone interested should visit The Centre for Sustainable Asian Cities School of Design and Environment. If introduced, a developer would be able to get a sliding VAT rebate for every 5% achieved over the LAI planning requirements. This would lead to

plenty of extra planting, and might help redirect common value engineering practices that typically impact the landscape more than any other area of a build project. Furthermore, Government policy should prioritise the protection and restoration of existing trees and ancient woodland alongside any expansion plans. There is evidence that large, old trees store significantly larger levels of carbon than smaller trees. A single large and wellestablished tree has the capacity to sequester the same amount of carbon over one growing season as is fixed in an entire medium-sized tree.

Local authorities must be given suitable powers to avoid the removal of any tree on any land in non-woodland areas. Unless there are overriding arboricultural or health and safety needs for felling, any trees on a development site must be maintained. If a tree must be removed, local authorities should implement minimum replacement planting ratios, which stipulate that for every non-woodland tree removed, new trees should be planted with the combined girth of the tree felled.

It is not only urban development that needs to be planting as many trees as possible. Rural Ireland also needs to take a close look at the lack of trees to combat climate change. In 2017, the estimated land coverage of hedge rows and non-forest woodland was 4.9%, well down the EU charts.

Looking across any of our local farmland, there are pitifully few trees, and miles of barren hedgerows with no trees at all. A new agri-environmental scheme was released this week with the headline, ‘€10,000 per farmer in new Agri scheme’, yet there is no compulsion for farmers to take on the tree/hedge planting module. With the present Ash situation, where 85% of all Ash will be dead in 3-15 years, this is a lost opportunity. The Government should either make it mandatory that all farmers with Ash on their land must plant at least 5 replacement trees for every lost mature Ash tree, or introduce a separate emergency scheme to combat the loss. These measures could make up part of the new Agri Environmental Scheme, where not planting the trees would attract a financial penalty. There is no point

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

©NJNIGHTSKY

14 / OPINION

TIME FOR COMBAT Renowned nurseryman, tree specialist and owner of Annaveigh Plants, John Murphy, doesn’t mince his words in a call to combat climate change with several sensible but urgent planting initiatives

in encouraging tree planting through the present schemes if the net result is merely the replacement of the Ash, we need an aggressive approach to this problem. By the way, our farm grows 100 acres of trees and does not qualify for the agri-environmental schemes.

We are probably one of the cleanest farming practices in Tipperary!

Two further aspects of the farm schemes that should be reconsidered are: the sole use of Irish native trees, which rules out Sycamore and Beech; and the use of only Irish seed stock.

I am not suggesting we import lots of stock, but during the past two years we have only been able to supply Alnus and Betula that conform to the regulations. The remaining 10 options were not available with Irish Provenance. Perhaps we could consider using UK Provenance while we ramp up production, but this requires labour, which suffers from low pay and availability. What the industry needs are incentives to increase production and the Government needs to get involved.

At the same time as encouraging planting, the removal of mature hedgerows is still legal in Ireland

between September and February.

I have personally witnessed the destruction of at least 7km of old hedgerows on two recently purchased farms. Even with the present laws, that require you to plant the same length of hedge removed elsewhere, the replacement of a mature hedge with small whips will take 20-50 years to reach the same level of carbon removal. In the UK it has been illegal to remove any hedgerow over 20m for years, and to do so attracts large fines and restoration costs. It is estimated, based on existing national statistics for hedgerow and non-forest woodland, that the carbon sequestered results in a net removal of 0.27-1.4 Mt CO2 /year.

This barbaric practice of removing mature hedgerows must be legislated against immediately.

There is a Chinese proverb that is being bandied about these days by environmental groups and trendy businesses, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The secondbest time is now.” This is fine, but we need action not marketing slogans.

The whole sector should be promoting all types of planting, regardless of location. We need to plant now and

throw aside the normal constraints. If this causes problems in 50 years, so what? At least we helped to mitigate some of the effects of climate change.

Get rid of root barriers and the rest of the expensive nonsense associated with tree pit construction in urban areas. They cost far more than the trees themselves and the money saved can go towards more trees and proper topsoil for planting.

If the roots cause problems in the future, again, so what? We need trees in the ground now and as many as possible. All Local Authorities should have a yearly tree planting target funded by the central government. ✽

JOHN MURPHY is the owner and operator of Annaveigh plants and is one of Ireland’s most experienced and respected nurserymen. For more information visit www.annaveigh.com

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

41

OPINION / 14

The hole IN THE BOG Noeleen Smyth addresses the urgent need to take action on Ireland’s lost bog-lands

O

ne of our favorite family tunes is the ‘Rattlin Bog’. The kids love the meandering, memorymelting verses, and growing up in Kildare we have watched that “hole in the Bog” of Allen get bigger and bigger. We have sat through many chats and discussions on what’s going to happen to that “hole in the bog” and have not been pleased with what we have seen so far, but that’s a story for another day.

As a nation, we don’t often jump into action, but one of the quickest and most controversial decisions ever made was in 2019, with regard to peat harvesting. A high court decision effectively ended commercial peat harvesting in Ireland. This very abrupt decision has left an entire industry scrambling for supplies. The crazy situation we find ourselves in now is that we are importing Balkan peat to meet industry needs, creating another “hole” in another “rattlin” (which apparently means splendid) bog in another part of the world.

WHY ARE WE IN THIS DIRE SITUATION? On a recent visit to some cut-over bogs, near Allenwood in Co. Kildare, I chatted to a retired Irish Peatland Ecologist.

I explained that I had been trying to get my head around how we ended up in such dire straits. He, even more depressingly, told me that we had the choice many years ago to opt for a more sustainable harvest of peat with a “Canadian” approach. In this method, peat moss is harvested continuously and yet still does not contribute to a decline in their peat bogs, as they allow millions of tonnes of peat to accumulate while harvesting, only ever utilising a small percentage of it. The Canadians manage harvesting sites in a sustainable way, never completely mining away the resource.

The living Sphagnum peat cap is replaced after harvest and they don’t harvest down to marl, leaving a harvested site fully functional for the future. Sounds very logical and sensible, doesn’t it? Sadly we didn’t take that approach here in Ireland, and now, with our peat resource almost dwindling away to nothing, we are at a point of no return. Sphagnum peats could have been harvested in a very sustainable way.

Peat is made from the moss genus Sphagnum and Sphagnum loves to grow here in Ireland. The mild Atlantic climate really suits them. We are a European stronghold for

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this genus with 33 of the 55 species of Sphagnum found here. However, despite loving to grow here, a recent conservation assessment conducted under Article 17 of the EU Habitats and Species Directive found that the status of Sphagnum was “inadequate.”

Just four percent, or 50k hectares, of our peat-forming “active raised bogs” remain. With the drastic decline of our bogs comes the drastic decline of our peat-forming Sphagnum species, which are becoming even rarer as the habitat declines (NPWS 2019).

The horticultural industry is hooked and totally reliant on peat compost and there are currently no truly viable alternatives. According to Growing Media Ireland, alternatives have been trialed, including green waste, bark, and coconut fibre. They have all been assessed as falling short in terms of quality, health and safety, and carbon footprint.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Sphagnum moss grows so well here in Ireland that it is, in theory, a perfectly renewable resource when managed.

However, we opted for extensive ‘openpit mining’ of peat, splitting open and draining our active raised bogs and harvesting every millimeter of peat until now we are left with the “brown deserts.”

So much so that in many cases we have mined our bogs right back to the Ice Age. The ‘holy grail’ now is to see if we can build back our bogs, putting Sphagnum on our cutover bogs and hoping it will grow again. If it could grow on our bogs again, then we have the potential to both build a renewable resource for industry, and return them to their function as a carbon store. Is this even possible? The very short answer is “yes,” the potential is definitely there, but it is still a massive challenge as the water levels need to be managed very precisely to do this. The word of the moment is ‘paludiculture’, or trying to get biomass growing on wet organic soils.

On one of the sites I visited with the group, we went to see a small experimental section of cut-over bog where Sphagnum had been planted as a trial in 2015. There was a very small percentage success rate and only

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

14 / OPINION one site with definite regeneration from Sphagnum-planted plugs. The Sphagnum planted were also being sourced from the UK, though the source material was Irish (not sensible or sustainable). As the European stronghold for the species, Ireland technically should be the source of Sphagnum for restoration schemes. Sphagnum have been recorded growing as much as 40cm a year. The net production of dry matter is comparable to that of other plants and may be 50% more than grassland under optimal conditions (Feehan & O'Donovan 1996). Great stories exist of a boat being pulled out of a bog where an old man remembers fishing as a boy on an open lake. If we get the water conditions right on our cutover bogs, then yes, we can grow Sphagnum.

The horticultural industry is hooked and totally reliant on peat compost and there are currently no truly viable alternatives

WHY PURSUE THESE CUTOVER SITES? We have to do something. We are so far down the road towards a planet tipping point, with regard to CO2 and global temperature increases, that doing nothing is not an option.

These ‘brown deserts’ are now emitting huge amounts of CO2. “CO2 emissions from drained peatlands are estimated at 1.3 gigatonnes annually. This is equivalent to over 5% of the global people linked CO2 emissions,” according to the IUCN. A statistic from 2015 records that one fire on an Indonesian peatland emitted nearly 16 million tonnes of CO2, which equated to more than the daily emissions from the entire US economy. We can’t risk the fires or continue to abandon our cutover bogs as it will send our emissions through the roof. We would end up paying more.

COULD WE REGROW OUR BOGS AND SUPPLY AN INDUSTRY?

The National Botanic Gardens already grow Sphagnum for demonstration with the ‘bog in a box’ method, showing that Sphagnum grows very well in shallow troughs. However, we need to make a bigger effort to conserve and salvage the valuable and irreplaceable resources of our 33 Sphagnum species. I suggest that we grow them all and select the fastest and most suitable species for cropping to produce composts from. While I was at the National Botanic Gardens we had already started to dabble with growing rare and threatened mosses in culture. One of my Ph.D. students, Christina Campbell, completed her thesis on the subject in 2013. We know the techniques required to grow them at a small scale and we can go bigger.

Various other methods and species have already been trialed abroad, with great success (Gaudig et al. 2018, Pouliot et al. 2015).

So, we are at a crossroads. We have the huge potential here to truly be green, save our very special Sphagnum species, to fill in that ‘hole in the bog’ with the ‘rare seeds’ — rare Sphagnum in our case — and to stop our cutover bogs emitting carbon. We can also commercially grow a suitable, fully sustainable, and renewable compost material for horticulture from Irish Sphagnum. Let’s get out of our own way and start to think logically and clearly about the future of our currently very finite resource-active raised peat bogs before it’s too late. We have a very big ‘hole’ in the bog. We need to stop the harvest and make sure that we can save the species that build the bogs.

Then we can ‘build back better’ and make sensible decisions for the growers and composts of the future, to secure our food supply. Our very precious 33 Sphagnum or ‘bog builders’ are the ‘green gold’ and ‘seeds’ for future bogs.

Let’s save what we have left. ✽

It’s very tantalising to think that all we need do is get Sphagnum growing again on these cutover bogs. If this is accomplished then we can really start doing something huge for the horticulture industry and the planet. From a planet perspective growing Sphagnum is a great idea. The remaining area of near-natural peatland (>3 million km2) contains more than 550 gigatonnes of carbon, representing 42% of all soil carbon and exceeding the carbon stored in all other vegetation types, including the world’s forests. This area sequesters 0.37 gigatonnes of CO2 a year, active bogs with growing Sphagnum are fabulous at storing Carbon.

We already see the potential for Sphagnum farming in Ireland, though the field experiments to date NOELEEN SMYTH is an Assistant Professor in Environmental on cut-over bogs Horticulture at University College Dublin. She holds a PhD. have proven to be and Hons Degree in Botany from Trinity College Dublin challenging and and diplomas in Horticulture from Teagasc and RHS. She with mixed results is a Biodiversity and conservation specialist. As part of her (McCorry pers. Comm). current role, she acts as the CITES Scientific Authority for We have a long way Ireland, advising the government on rare plant imports. to go and a lot of research work to do.

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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EVENTS / 15

EVENTS

IE

DIARY

It’s time for business again

25 - 28 JANUARY 2022 IPM ESSEN The world's leading horticultural trade fair revolves around solutions and innovations in the green sector. ipm-essen.de/world-trade-fair ✽

DON'T MISS

FRANKFURT / MAIN

At last, you can again experience live in Frankfurt the latest ideas and trends for seasonal and festive decorations! Book your ticket for this incredibly diverse product world at: christmasworld.messefrankfurt.com An array of new digital features – including informative live streams and networking with business partners – help ensure a successful start to the new season.

28 JAN - 01 FEBUARY 2022 CHRISTMASWORLD International Trade Fair for Seasonal and Festive Decorations. christmasworld.messefrankfurt.com ✽

info@uk. messefrankfurt.com Tel. +44 14 83 48 39 84

06-09 FEBRUARY 2022 SPRING FAIR The definitive marketplace of the home and gift industry Venue: NEC Birmingham, UK; www.springfair.com ✽

09 - 11 FEBRUARY 2022 FRUIT LOGISTICA Berlin, Germany. fruitlogistica.de/en ✽

DON'T MISS

20 - 21 FEBRUARY 2022 THE HARDWARE SHOW The Hardware Show has become one of the largest and most important events for the sector, both in Ireland and the wider UK/Ireland marketplace. thehardwareshow.ie ✽

29 APRIL - 01 MAY GARDEN SHOW IRELAND Garden Show Ireland returns to its stunning setting in Antrim Castle Gardens in 2022; gardenshowireland.com

✽

02 - 06 JUNE 2022 BORD BIA BLOOM Ireland’s largest gardening and lifestyle festival, now in its sixteenth year, the festival will return to its central Dublin location subject to ongoing Government guidelines and public health advice; bordbiabloom.com ✽

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HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

DU: 04.11.2021

The Summit will focus on the new opportunities for businesses and enterprising individuals arising from the Government’s recently published Climate Action Venue: RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin 4 sustainabilitysummit.ie ✽

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CONTACT PETER ON 089 255 7526 / EDITOR@HORTICULTURE.IE

2022 SCHEME OF INVESTMENT AID FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMERCIAL HORTICULTURE SECTOR This Scheme is intended to assist in the development of the commercial horticulture sector, excluding potatoes, by grant aiding capital investments in specialised horticultural plant and equipment. The Scheme is now open for applications for proposed investments.

As the funds available under the Scheme are limited, investments will be in competition for grant aid.

Grant aid will not be considered for works which commence before the issue of the respective letter of approval by the Department.

Application forms and further information may be obtained from: Horticulture Grants Section, Horticulture and Plant Health Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Administration Building, Backweston Campus, Young’s Cross, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, W23 X3PH. Tel: (01) 5058886, Email: horticulturegrants@agriculture.gov.ie Application forms and conditions for the Scheme can be obtained on-line at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/b16bf-horticulture-schemes/ Hard copies of completed applications must be received at the above address not later than 5pm Friday 17th December 2021. gov.ie/agriculture

WORLD VIEW / 16

SUSTAINABILITY PIONEERS With this new International Series of articles from Floraculture International, in collaboration with The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), we look at issues that affect the horticulture sector worldwide

Plants in the right place, for the right amount of time are essential for capturing carbon, improving water management, regulating temperature, and promoting biodiversity

T

he AIPH International Conference, ‘The Path to Sustainability in Ornamental Horticulture’, boasted an international line-up of 27 industry expert panellists from around the world. Each shared their unique insights on sustainability and provided actionable ways to address climate change practices.

The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) organised the event in partnership with GreenTech Live & Online, Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) and FloraCulture International (FCI). The online conference took place on 30 September 2021.

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WHY SHOULD OUR INDUSTRY CHANGE? Helping to set the scene for the day ahead was Dr. David Bek, a Reader in Sustainable Economies at Coventry University (UK). He said that the pandemic had reminded people of their vulnerability (and has revealed supply chain vulnerability).

Covid-19 caused drastic changes concerning consumer needs with Fairtrade and locally grown and health products being in high demand. Bek said that a certain number of wealthier consumers put their money where their mouth is. Also, some middle-class consumers had more money in their pockets because they were not going on holidays.

However, post-Covid, life is starting to cost a lot more due to price hikes on all

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

16 / WORLD VIEW commodities, including energy. Bek finds it challenging to predict whether the willingness to pay for sustainable products, including eco-certified cut flowers and plants, will stick.

THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE He went on to explain what climate change means for horticulture. Changes in temperature and rainfall regimes, exotic weather events, and rising sea levels threaten the viability of production areas across the globe. Whilst higher winter temperatures in Northern Europe may sound appealing, the impact of melting ice sheets and glaciers are not. The sub-Sahara is already struggling with temperature and rainfall changes, and projections for horticultural heartlands such as Kenya and Ethiopia do not look good.

Another horticultural powerhouse, the Netherlands, will face severe problems with rising sea levels.

FUTURE-PROOFING YOUR BUSINESS The insurance industry has been ahead of the game in adjusting its risk rising policies whilst investors are also taking climate change very seriously. They are profiling potential investments carefully against climate change risk. Simply put: if you as a horticultural entrepreneur want insurance or investment, then be ready to demonstrate your climate change mitigation planning. Bek invited his audience to consider that horticultural activities contribute to climate change despite the products’ green benefits.

Footprint tracking of carbon and water happens throughout the supply chain. “Researching these things is complicated and time-consuming, but we have to acknowledge the consequences of some of the work that has been undertaken.

For example, an evaluation of cut flower supply chains has produced sobering data. According to one widely cited study, the carbon footprint of a rose stem grown in Kenya is 2.407kg, whilst one grown in Holland is 2.437kg. To put this in context, a bunch of bananas is 0.5kg. And when we think of water, one study on water footprints indicated that an average Kenyan rose stem has a water footprint of nine litres, which is a considerable amount.”

LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS At the same time, science is evolving to understand better where footprints are occurring within supply chains and the extent of the impacts. Life Cycle Analysis is a key tool for enabling this process. Bek said, “Different products generate problematic output at different stages of their production. Behind mapping these outputs is a process of quantifying these outputs, which in turn enables hotspots such as production of greenhouse gases to be identified.” He said that it is vital that the industry engages in these types of analysis to reduce or even eradicate problem impacts.

PROACTIVE SOLUTIONS - NOT DEFENSIVE REASONING The value to society of non-food and non-health products became very contentious during the pandemic. “Items that were considered non-essential by some governments and retailers were deprioritised or even banned from sale.

And this included flowers and plants in some countries.

It’s not the cost of taking action. It’s the cost of not taking action...

Sven Hoping, Global Sales Director TEKU at Pöppelmann “This perception of essentialness matters in the context of climate change. One of the world’s leading carbon footprint experts told me a couple of years ago there is no justification to produce cut flowers in heated greenhouses or fly them halfway around the world.” Bek said that whatever our perspectives are, the sector must be mindful that policymakers and consumers will be making trade-offs in the coming years as it becomes imperative to confront the climate crisis.

On the positive side, Bek stressed how horticulture has a vital role to play in tackling the climate crisis. He said, “Plants in the right place, for the right amount of time are essential for capturing carbon, improving water management, regulating temperature, and promoting biodiversity. Living green is an important contributor on the pathway to net-zero.

And it is not all about rainforests. These principles apply to urban parks, street design, and residential development.

Collectively all these spaces contribute to climate mitigation if managed correctly.”

CROSS-INDUSTRY COLLABORATION Horticulture has a considerable role in providing the tools to tackle the problem, in communication with lobbying. Bek referenced the surge in sustainability initiatives in recent years, with FSI leading the way and going from strength to strength.

Bek noted that science and research are critical to the process as we advance. He welcomed the increased role research institutes are playing. One example is the programme of work happening at WUR University in the Netherlands to deliver life cycle analysis of products to produce horti-footprints.

Bek said, “The WUR programme is particularly important because it is developing a standardised approach for benchmarking environmental impacts of horticultural products throughout the entire supply chain, from soil to mouth, from farm to fork. Cross-industry collaboration is crucial in these processes. The information must be shared and not held back to benefit USPs or the brand identities of a handful of stakeholders. It is in everyone’s interest to ensure that the horticultural sector is not just reducing its negative impacts, but is actively contributing to climate change mitigation.

Bek concluded by saying that during the pandemic, we all witnessed the ability of humans to adapt when the pressure was on. “This is crucial learning in the context of the climate crisis. 'We cannot change' has been a repeated statement during recent decades in relation to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But we now have proof that as individuals, as a society and as businesses we can change overnight in terms of our behaviour if we have to.”

The recordings of the AIPH International Conference: the path to Sustainability in Ornamental Horticulture can be viewed online on-demand at www.aiph.org/events/ sustainability-conference-2021-recordings. ✽

Autumn/Winter 2021 / www.horticultureconnected.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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IN PICTURES / 17

TEAGASC NURSERY STOCK SEMINAR

TOP LEFT: TEAGASC NURSERY STOCK SEMINAR 2021-INTRO BY MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAND USE AND BIODIVERSITY-PIPPA HACKETT RIGHT: L-R CONOR MCGEE-MICHAEL GAFFNEYDONALL FLANAGAN-DERMOT CALLAGHANKEVIN MAHON-ANDY BOURKE-JOHN SPINK BOTTOM LEFT: ANDY BOURKE-CONOR MCGEE-DONALL FLANAGAN-DAFM NEW PEST RISK ANALYSIS TEAM; RIGHT: DR. MICHAEL GAFFNEYRESEARCH CHALLENGE OF REPLACING PEAT IN GROWTH MEDIA

SALTEX, NEC BIRMINGHAM

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: COLMAN WARDE & FERGAL GREENAN (ICL); ANDY CHALMERS (MELCOURT INDUSTRIES); GREG COLLINS & TIM PEELING (BAYER CROP SCIENCE)

GLEE, NEC BIRMINGHAM

DECLAN DUNNE & JAMES DUNNE (GORSE LODGE) AND ARMIN HOHLT (ASIASTYLE)

48

DAVID KELLY (VIVAGREEN)

PETER HORKAN (HYGEIA)

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticultureconnected.ie / Autumn/Winter 2021

ANDREW HATTON (BALLYKELLY CHRISTMAS TREES)

3 WAYS TO BUY Feel

the

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w w w. f l o r a l a n d p l a n t s . i e sales@floralandplants.ie Tel: +353 (0)87 241 5091

CALL SAM

(089) 476 7424

RECRUITMENT SPECIALISTS IN LANDSCAPE, GARDEN RETAIL & HORTICULTURE

HORTIRECRUIT www.recruited.ie

EDIBLE HORTICULTURE ROLES Fruit / Vegetable Grower

AMENITY ROLES

Logistics Manager

Landscapers, Pavers & Grounds staff

Machinery Operator / Mechanic

Retail & General Horticulturists

Plant Grower

Head, Craft & Assistant Gardeners

Propagation Scientist

Designers & Architects

Prodution Operatives

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Orchard Manager

Sales, Marketing & Management Maintenance Specialists

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT RECRUITMENT MANAGER SAM BARRETT ON 089 476 7424 sam@recruited.ie